Himitsu
by acyp
Summary: Sanzushi Taichi is a registered 'male' transfer student and the new Regular of the Tennis Team. Drawback is he actually has two x chromosomes. And Fuji the Genius is constantly around: this shoddy cross-dressing plan just got a lot harder for Taiya. Sorta!FujixOC [Under lots of editing and revising]
1. 夜露死苦: Yoroshiku

Legend: "This" is speech.

_'This' _is thoughts.

"**This**" is words spoken in Chinese. Other ways to distinguish will include small amounts of characters within the text of the story.

Presenting my second OC fic (don't remind me of my first -.-)

----

_'Why....DID THIS STUPID CAR RIDE TAKE 3 HOURS!!' _

Sanzushi Taiya's mind screamed as she sat in the backseat of her mother's car, which was steadily driving along the road. She was bored, and being bored for too long equals an early-coming death for her. But a smile found its way to her rather dry lips. _'But at least I get to enter Seishun Gakuen, one of the best tennis squad schools around this area. It's going to be perfect....'_

---

(The day or so before....)

"Taiya! You wanted to go to Japan right, and enroll into....Seishun Gakuen Jr High, right?"

"是啊， 妈妈。(that's right, mum). There's a great Tennis Squad School there, and I heard its team and rivals are promising."

"Ah, I see. Well, I booked a flight already-"

"WHAT THE-!"

-**CRASH-**

"星花 (Xing Hua)... how many times have I told you...TO BE GODDAMN CAREFUL OF BREAKING THINGS AROUND THE HOUSE!!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE- MY HAND SLIPPED!!"

"Aiya, anyway, the plane's leaving tomorrow," her mother informed her raging daughter.

What happened next was yet to be expected. "AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME EARLIER!!! I HAVE TO BID _FAREWELL _TO MY FRIENDS YOU KNOW!!!" The violet-eyed girl was screaming a stream of words even her mother didn't know in Chinese. Maybe due to the velocity of her speech.

"But I thought you would be happy to-"

"I AM GLAD, EXCEPT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO KNOW A LITTLE EARLIER!! I HAVE FRIENDS YOU KNOW! YEAH, SHOCKING, ISN'T IT?! YOU THOUGHT I NEVER HAD FRIENDS DIDN'T YOU?!"

"Calm down, you know I still have that chloroform you know."

"ARRRGGHH- wait, what did you say?"

"Pack your bags; don't worry you got what you want. You'll be back for high school."

(End)

Taiya was an everyday senior Middle School Student, half-Chinese, half-Japanese. So the typical black-brown hair and the yellowish tinge to her fair skin was normal in her old community; China. The familiar Japanese scenery past by the window as the car made its way along before the road, before the car slowed to a stop and the sounds of her mother removing seat belts jolted her from her stupor.

"Taiya, we're here at our new home."

"_Hai_." _'She's using my Japanese name...'_

Where was her father, one may ask?

Most people would say, _in a better place._

Simple as that.

He was a Professional Tennis player who played internationally (she was_ so _proud of him), but he was diagnosed with an unknown genetic sickness. It went to the worst stage, which led to his early death when Taiya was just 7.

He's one of the sole reasons she took up tennis, without intention of abandoning it.

Taiya herself participated in the Nationals over at China during her second year of Middle school, her team earning a place in the runner ups.

'_So close, yet so far.'_

Losing an important match due to an ankle injury and her lack of stamina, regret had washed over Taiya. She wasn't good enough, she knew it; and it was awkward to admit it.

So there's her goal in Japan.

To get into the Nationals with the tennis team of Seishun Gakuen.

And she'd have to definitely get in.

Picking up her suit cases and her navy-blue tennis bag, Taiya headed inside to her new residence with high spirits. The interior of the house was something to be admired, and Taiya's mother took all the time in the world to do so. Their new house was rather large- larger than they needed (the area they lived in was full of rather large houses, especially the one next door), rather western-styled, but it definitely was a nice, suburban house- something Taiya hasn't experienced living in.

"HURRY UP, YOU LAZY DAUGHTER!!"

Taiya pulled a face.

"Yes, mother!" _'That was so harsh, mum T.T'_

Her room was small but cozy. Anyway, it beat the room she had to stay in at her uncles apartment. Sharing a room with a stinking, game-nerd of a cousin was a terrible ordeal she had dealt with. Her father always said she was strong because of it though.

"And anyway, _Taiya,_" Aiki emphasized her name, reminding Taiya (like a slap across the face) that they were to converse in Japanese, "_why_ do you want the boys uniform again?"

Taiya only sighed and shook her head. She explained her idea to her mother ever since she first entered Middle school, and her mum still has this string of hope that Taiya will abandon it and just use the time as though it was a studying exchange trip.

Tough luck; studying over tennis?

You see, Aiki still hopes one day in this 'pretty' year, Taiya would just drop the whole thing and rock up to the shopping mall dressed in a cute mini-skirt, boots and fashionable street-teen clothing while skipping around with her girlfriends and trying to find a boyfriend, taking lots of sticker photos along the way for memories (Taiya was appalled by the mere thought).

But it was settled. The day someone, or many people, find out about her real gender at the school would be the day she came as a girl.

Maybe.

"Ah, you have to go to the principal's office next week to get your schedule," Aiki informed her, her Chinese accent hidden well in her voice. "You know I don't have too much time, so I'm sure you can do everything fine without me. I'll drive you though, since it is your first day."

"Okay."

Taiya glanced at her watch; 2pm; no time for sight-seeing.

"I'm going to go to sleep; wake me up for dinner-"

"YOU'RE NOT SLEEPING THE DAY AWAY, YOU LAZY GIRL!"

"But-"

"GO START PRACTICING YOUR JAPANESE!"

Thudding up the stairs, she fell onto her bed, impatient for school to start. She had it planned out, though half-assedly, her transfer to Japan. All school record copies were changed with her name, and all photos altered from the help of her computer-genius friends. She would juggle studies and tennis together and try her best in Japan, and can finally show her family (and other unimportant people that came across in her life and made fun of her) that she can do what she wants as long as she tried hard enough.

Perseverance is power.

_'But although I'm an active person, playing sports and all,' _she thought to herself, _'I don't want to trouble myself so badly to death. It's just tennis....'_.

Wait, scratch that.

_'Hahah, so I'd like to say; I'm just plain lazy whenever I can risk it! ^^'_.

Unconscious of it happening, Taiya had slipped into a light doze, before wisps of conversation hummed near her ear. The people in the large house next door were conversing, it seemed, with Aiki.

Their name was like the Fuji's or something?

Taiya glanced from her window while she rested on her bed, and saw a boy and a girl standing there. "Mum better not ask me to go down there and intro-"

"Taiya! Come introduce herself to your new neighbours!" Her mothers voice reached up the stairs and into her ears, making her twitch involuntarily.

_'__麻烦。。。__(troublesome).'_

"我来了，我来了 (I'm coming, I'm coming)."

Flipping up from her further-messed-up bed, Taiya sighed and ran her fingers through her tossled locks of shoulder-length black hair.

"...so your own child is going to transfer into Seishun Gakuen too? I see....that is the same school I attend to."

A boy with light-brown hair and a friendly smiling face came into view. His eyes were closed as he smiled; Taiya wondered if he ever opened them.

The boy with the everlasting closed eyes turned and acknowledged her presence and greeted her with a smile, which she didn't return, due to the fact she was standing there gawking like a caveman.

"Oh, let me introduce to you my daughter, Sanzushi Taiya," Aiki said to the threesome at the sight of her daughter with her hair half sticking up.

"_Hajimemashite (how do you do), _I'm Sanzushi Taiya," she introduced herself in the unfamiliar language, though proud at herself she remembered _some _useful things. The boy with the smiling eyes(?) nodded and gave a curt bow towards her.

"Good morning, Taiya-san; I'm Fuji Syusuke. Nice to meet you. This is my older sister, Yumiko-nee-san."

Yumiko smiled and shook her new neighbours hand gently. She was unmistakenly beautiful, with the same everlasting smile, well-cared-for hair and a good body to boot. Damn, maybe Taiya really has been hanging around guys too much. -.-

"Pleasure to meet you, Taiya-chan. Come over at any time you feel like― Syusuke and you look about the same age― how old are you?"

"I am 14 years old." _'He wasn't supposed to see me as a girl...! Dammit, plan ruined on day one! How do I explain a guy going to school instead of a girl?...I'll have to act as two people....'_

"So, are you going to be attending Seigaku then?" inquired Fuji. Taiya stared dumbly.

"Sei...gaku?"

"Oh, Seishun Gakuen. Seigaku is a shortened form; I apologize for the confusion." Taiya finally registered what he said in her brain.

"Ah- no! No, no, no! That's, eh, going to be my brother! Yes, my brother. I will be attending a, eh..." _'Think...what are the schools that only have girls in them again?...' _"An all-girls school!" _'__我真的是天才！'__(I'm truly a genius)'_

"Ah, I see..." He looked a little doubtful, and Taiya's heart beat increased to 246bpm. He then let a smile. "That's a shame, isn't it? I could have showed you around."

"Hahah, your younger brother is such a gentleman," Aiki complimented while Fuji just smiled modestly and Yumiko beamed. "Unlike my daughter―_so _rude and stubborn sometimes!"

"妈！**I heard the word 'rude'! Are you speaking bad of me again?!**" jabbered Taiya in Chinese_. _Aiki only gave a smile that said '_what-do-you-think?_'. The 14 year old girl only tipped her head in annoyance.

"Well, anyway, I need to go back and, uh..." Taiya cursed her traiterous neurons who refused to work. "...Study...Japanese!"

Giving a curt bow to Yumiko and Fuji (she avoided the stern, steely gaze of her mother!), she speedily entered her house, ran up the stairs and into her room. As though in exaggerrated comic, she miraculously got many locks and drilled them on the edge of the door, before locking the room door shut.

Just for good measure.

"What am I to do...? Now there's a fake pair of siblings that have to live under this roof!" She swore under her breath.

"This is _so _麻烦."

**-**

Beep.

Beeeep.

Beeeeeep.

Beeeeeeeeep!

Be-

"SHUT UP!!"

A pillow was thrown at the wall in frustration. Taiya groaned. "I missed by a meter...again. Meh. Time to...get up..."

Several weeks had passed since the Sanzushi family's arrival to Japan. Seishun Gakuen started their second day of school on this coming morning, and she was enrolled, ready to attend as a student.

A male one.

Funny how life runs, hah?

Taiya clicked the top of her small, table clock. The beeping alarm ceased. The clock read 7:00am.

She yawned. "Might as well somehow hide my hair, and get ready..."

7:20am.

Taiya came down the stairs to her family's new kitchen, which gave off pleasant smell of rice and soup. She felt her stomach rumble.

"早安 _zao an _(good morning)."

"_Ohayou_," corrected her mother.

_'Oh yeah, we have to speak Japanese now.' _Taiya thought grumpily. Trying to speak and remember a language you haven't spoke for at least 2 years straight wasn't somethng to fancy. Aiki shook her head in disapproval as she stared down at Taiya's uniform. Taiya was wearing the boys black pants with matching blazer, button to her neck. Her tennis bag was slung over her shoulder.

"什么 (what)?" she said, feeling a twinge of annoyance, before she seated herself down into a comfy cushioned chair.

Aside from the school uniform, Taiya also wore a black beanie which she used to tucked the longer parts of her hair into, leaving the rest to flatten down on the side of her narrow face. Though she possessed a rather girly looking face, her firm and rather prominen jawline, along with her hard-set eyes made her appear much like a determined male. Feeling the strange sensation similar to that of wearing a particularly nasty corset, Taiya shifted uncomfortably, touching her chest lightly with a hand. No signs of a chest here.

"Ouch."

"It's your own fault."

"I _know._"

Breakfast was forced down with a glass of milk as nerves started to take a toll on her. "_Kaa-san_, where's the note you signed so I could get a uniform pass?"

"On the fridge."

"Oh, right. Come on, _kaa-san_! Or I'll be late!" she shouted over her shoulder before sticking her tongue out disgustedly at the feel of the new words rolling out of her mouth.

"_Hai, hai._"

As she headed straight out the door, her mum behind her-

"Oh, good morning."

There stood Fuji Syusuke of Seishun Gakuen, leaving at the same time she was. What a coincidence. Fuji was dressed in the same attire as herself, although excluding the thin, black beanie. He walked over and smiled.

"My name is Fuji Syusuke; you must be Taiya-san's brother. I don't recall meeting you."

"Ah, sorry! I'm... Sanzushi Taichi. I was, eh, visiting a friend yesterday, the day my sister and my mother came here. I guess you met them," Taiya lied quickly, trying desperately to change her voice so it sounded more male. Taiya could have slapped herself then. But then again, she noted down that Fuji's own vocal cords were very...feminine. Much like Kaida Yuki's!

"Ah...oh, good morning, Aiki-san!"

In despair, Taiya watched her mother just come out wearily to the driveway with a pair of keys. But at the sound of Fuji's voice, her head snapped up and she flashed her toothpaste-ad-model smile at him.

"Good morning, Fuji-kun! My, would you like a lift to school? I'm driving my own _son _there since it's the first day."

Fuji politely declined the offer. "Actually, would you like me to show you the path to school from here? It's only about 15 minutes away by foot, and it'd be good, just in case Aiki-san doesn't have time in the mornings to drive you? It would also be beneficial to the environment."

He was a bizarre guy. He smiles way too much.

"Why, what an excellent idea! Taiya, go- it's good training for you anyway," ushered her mother. She gave a sweet smile to Fuji. "Thank you for the trouble, Fuji-kun. And you," she stared at Taiya with a sinister smile, "**remember to take your studies seriously. Or back to China**."

Taiya gulped and nodded.

As the two students of Seigaku walked down the street, Fuji attempted to start a conversaiton.

"So, you are from China?"

"Yeah...came to Japan 2 days before we moved into the house next to yours," she said with a bit of a Chinese accent.

"So which school with Taiya-san be attending? It's a shame you both are going to different schools."

Taiya felt herself laughed weakly, praying he was stupid. "I-I'm not quite sure of the name myself- Japanese is a bit hard for me still, I apologize."

"It's no problem. So what about-"

Taiya broke into a sprint, desperate to get away from his pestering questions. "Let's go to school before we're late, ne?!"

"Ah- Taichi-san, you're going the wrong way!"

First meetings are always weird.

**----**

**[Edited on 27th Nov]**

**Comment?**

...

No flames saying it burnt your eyes or that you puked or something, because I frankly don't care after seeing them so many times. -.- But good lord go ahead and point out the errors which I can fix!...excluding 'killing' the OC.


	2. Burning Small Fry

**A/N - **Muhahaha! Okay,** I only include start notes when it's kinda important**. Yeahs....

First time I've ever put a disclaimer because I saw everyone else do it so (shrug).

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Ohjisama. I DO own the ... plot...and OC....but not many people care about that now do they?

**----**

Taiya walked around the school for a bit, before she watched in awe at all the tennis players playing in the courts.

"**That freshman is pretty good too. Actually, he's awesome**..." Taiya prodded Fuji on the shoulder. "Fuji-san, may I ask, who is that?"

"You mean Echizen?"

"Yes, that kid with the green hair."

"Hmm, that's Echizen Ryoma. A lot of people have taken an interest in him actually- he might be able to participate in the selection matches for the Regulars, even as a first year," Fuji informed. Taiya could feel herself gaping like an idiot. A freshman, a short one at that, was about to beat her?! Hell no!

"**I must work hard....**" she mumbled determinedly under her breath. Fuji cast her a sideways glance.

"Did you say something?"

"Ah! _Iie _(no)!"

"I see....well, which class are you in, Tai-san?"

"Oh my- 天啊(Heavens)! I forgot to go to the principal's office to get my schedule!" Taiya had already run off before Fuji could say something.

"He's strange...he's different from his sister," Fuji said to himself, before he smiled and went to his shoe locker. "Oh well."

----

Taiya ran desperately until she reached the front door of the Principals Office. She caught her breath before raising her hand and knocking a few times onto the hard wood of the mahogany door. Feeling an immediate pain, she waved her hand in front of her, silently cursing out.

"Come in."

Taiya entered a brightly lit room due to the curtains being open, letting the sunshine in. The principal sat at the desk, with his fingers laced together. He smiled up at Taiya before holding up a piece of paper - an application form, his eyes hidden by rectangular white glasses.

"So, I presume you are Sanzushi Taichi, our new transfer student," the Principal said warmly, handing her the sheet to quickly examine. It read (or so Taiya thought, having not read Japanese for a long time):

Full Name: Sanzushi Li Taichi 李星花 ----- ('Li' (李)is her mothers former last name before she got married.)

Age: 14

Birthday: July 27th

Blood Type: O

Academic Achievements: 

Sacred Heart Middle School Academic Achievement Award - For High Achievement in Mathematics

Sacred Heart Middle School Principals Award - For High Achievement in Mathematics

Hong Kong Mathematics Competition - High Distinction

Other Achievements in School: 

Sacred Heart Tennis Club's Under 13 Vice-captain

Sacred Heart Tennis Club's Under 14 Vice-captain.

Behaviour: Needs to socialize with other students more often. A studious student, and a solitary achiever.

Comments: Does excellently in the areas of Maths and Science. English is acceptable among her peers standards. Has participated in various Mathematics competitions and represented Sacred Heart school proudly in Tennis.

Taiya looked up from the sheet sheepishly, while the Principal continued to smile pleasantly. A forced smile and a singular sweat-drop sliding down the side of her face appeared.

_'Better work...it was the computer-genius Rickii who changed everything for me...' _

"Sanzushi Li Taichi, eh?" the Principal remarked as he read the Hiragana next to her imprinted Chinese name, a small smile on his face. She nodded.

"Hmm, what's this though? _Hoshi Hana (__星花__)_?"

Taiya froze. _'Craaap! Did mum add my Chinese name there?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, MUM?! IT'S LIKE YOU WANT ME TO BE CAUGHT!!'_

Taiya scratched the side of her chin, staring at the side rather nervously. "That is my Chinese name. You see, my father always expected a girl and wanted his first child to be called _Hana (__花__) _because he's a Japanese man and it's a popular and nice name for girls he had said. On the other hand, my mum wanted me to have the name _Xing_, meaning 'star', in Chinese and so they combined the two and...and only after they registered me with that name did they realize I was a boy."

A ringing silence filled the premises.

"And....so they gave me a Japanese name which has nothing to do with my Chinese name," she smiled, a large sweat-drop on the back of her head. The Principal too had a sweat-drop donned on his forehead.

"I....see. Very interesting."

"Isn't it?" said Taiya cheerily, glad that he didn't suspect anything.

"Well, here's your timetable through this semester, and here's your Homeroom class. During your homeroom for next semester, they will give you your new timetable as per normal." Taiya saw at the top of your timetable the numbers '3-6' before she nodded understandingly.

"I hope you have a great stay at Seishun Gakuen, Sanzushi Taichi-kun."

"Yes; _arigatou gozaimasu _(Thank you very much)."

----

Fuji spotted Taiya walking pass a few classrooms, seemingly checking the numbers on the doors. "Before was classroom 4 so...What the Hell?! How'd it end up as classrooms 6?!"

He decided to help ...**him**...out.

"Hello, Tai-san. Having trouble?" Fuji asked her. She turned around at the sound of his voice and gave a sigh of relief.

"Uh, yeah, do you know where the Homeroom 3-6 is?" she asked. Fuji gave a friendly smile.

"Sure; that's the same homeroom as my own. Let's go, before the bell rings."

"Oh yeah, just Tai's fine. No need for formalities."

"Mm."

----

Class was noisy, which was strangely startling to Taiya (who has experienced being in dead-silent, perfect classes). She seated herself at a table near Fuji's own (she felt the need to have some sort of company), ignoring the questioning stares of other students who had taken notice of her.

"Attention class, we have a new student with us today. Sanzushi-san, please stand up and introduce yourself."

Though slightly annoyed at the fact she had to get up from her seat again, she stood up, straightening her jacket before introducing herself in her best (yet timid) _male _voice.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Sanzushi Taichi and will be attending the same classes with you all from now on. Nice to meet you all." She gave a small bow before she sat down, feeling oddly hot with all the stares she was receiving.

The classroom seemed to be looking at her weirdly. _'What, did I say something wrong? I practiced that speech all last night! Sorry that I can't remember how to introduce myself properly...'_

"That new guy's cute."

_'....ah?'_

"I saw him walking with Fuji-san to homeroom; maybe they're friends."

"Just like Fuji-sama to have such cute friends!"

_'...Fuji-sama...? o.o Oh dear...'_

Fuji watched Taiya sit on her/his desk, reading before he nodded to himself. _'Yep, Taiya-san looks EXACTLY like him. Maybe they were twins...hmmm...I wonder if he's scared of spiders...I just won a rubber one the other day...'_

Fuji smiled and slipped past the crowd to Taiya's desk. "I'll show you around; we're neighbours after all."

"Ah, thank you."

Fuji and Taiya walked only a few steps before a bubbly red-head popped up and gave a large grin.

"Ah, this is-"

"Kikumaru Eiji!" The boy introduced himself with a bright smile, which matched his equally bright blue eyes. "I'm also in your class, but we never got to talk, Tai-chan!"

_'Tai...chan? Pet names already?'_

"And this is Kunimitsu Tezuka. He is the captain of the Seigaku Regulars."

Taiya could have jaw-dropped there.

The short green-haired boy from earlier was arguing with another taller _senpai _about something which they were not sure of.

"That's Echizen Ryoma, and Momoshiro Takeshi," Fuji concluded after Momoshiro and Ryoma finished arguing, turning the opposite way from each other with a 'hmph'. "That's Inui Sadaharu. That's Oishi Shouichirou, the vice-captain of the team and also Eiji's doubles partner," Fuji explained while Taiya nodded.

_'Ah, so they're the...what-Pair was it....um.....Metal Pair? No wait....Steel! No...something even more flashy....' _Taiya thought as she took in Fuji's information with small nods, not really paying attention. _'Chocolate Pair! No, that just sounds wrong....mmm, chocolate.....'_

"That's Kaidou Kaoru, also known as the Viper and that's Kawamura Takashi. And that's about it, I think. Did you get all that, Tai-san?" Fuji asked.

_'HECK NO!! I JUST CAME HERE AND YOU EXPECT ME TO-_

"Of course I did, what kind of idiot can't?" Taiya forced an airy laugh. Tezuka pulled out a literature book and started to read.

"If you'll excuse me," was all he said before heading to his locker.

"So, _all _of you are on the tennis team? Even you, Fuji-san?" asked Taiya, breaking her gaze from Tezuka's back. Fuji and Oishi nodded. _'Whoa, what a big coincidence -.-. But this'll make my job easier.'_ "Then do you know where you sign up for the ranking matches?" Eiji pointed somewhere.

"Just over there near the courts. Are you going to sign up? You interested in Tennis too?"

"Ehhhhhhhh.... I guess you can say that," said Taiya, almost as though in surprise; she liked tennis, yes? Or was she just playing to prove something? "I used to play a lot in China, so I thought I'd try out...and by the way, excuse my poor Japanese but I'm not quite used to speaking it again since living in China," Taiya said sheepishly, hiding her embarrassment by pulling down her beanie. "You see, Chinese is my first language."

"_Saa_, that's okay, you'll get accustomed to it again eventually," said Fuji with an assuring smile.

Taiya went off to sign up for the Ranking Matches, while Fuji and the others watched her go.

"Do you think he'd be any good?" Eiji remarked.

"Who knows."

----

A week or so later....

"Sanzushi Taichi Vs. Kimihara Hanu."

Taiya won all her games 6-0, surprising even herself.

"Well...I guess going to Nationals last year was a good thing afterall," she commented breezily, happy with her progress so far. The games went with the top 2 on each block become the Regulars, excluding the matches on B block, in which the top three players are chosen.

Taiya finally had to face her Regular opponent; Kawamura Takashi. Taiya shook his hand with a firm grip, only to have her hand slightly throbbing afterwards. _'Gah, strong...!'_

"I'm honoured to be able to play a Regular so early..." said Taiya with a slight dip of her head.

"No, i-it's nothing. Let's do our best," said Kawamura with a slight blush; Taiya was surprised such a strong guy was nervous with her, who was half his size.

Fuji came up from nowhere and handed Kawamura a racquet. "You forgot this."

"Ah, thank you, Fuji! Anyway, Sanzushi-san, I hope we can play a fair- OHH YEAH! BURNING! FEEL THE BURN! SO YOU'RE SANZUSHI TAICHI WHO CHALLENGES ME!!!!!"

"What in the-!"

"He gets that way, don't worry about it, Tai-san," Fuji explained.

_'THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE HIM THE FREAKIN' RACQUET WHEN HE'S LIKE AN ARMS LENGTH AWAY FROM ME?!' _screamed Taiya inwardly, her back pressed against the fence with sweat running down the back of her head. It just goes to show that Taiya was like every other person who met Kawamura; shocked at his sudden Mood Swing.

Taiya regained her composture and coughed into her hand. _'Extremely bipolar.'_

"Sanzushi Taichi VS. Kawamura Takashi. Kawamura to serve."

Kawamura hit a frightening serve, mainly because of all his 'burning' yells, and Taiya backhanded it over the net. He too returned it easily over the net.

Suddenly she was overwhelmed with a strong weight on her racquet, pulling her arm back before her eyes narrowed down in simple delight.

_'He's got a strong hit...and he's scary. He's got a lot of power...that's gotta go against me soon. His serve was incredible...'_

People crowded around to watch Taiya and Kawamura's match.

"That's that new transfer student isn't it?"

"I feel sorry for him, going up against Kawamura-senpai already."

"He'll get crushed easy."

...

Taiya's eye twitched violently though she inwardly thanked them (only a little bit) as her sudden-spiked irritation gave her energy to return the ball with a shapr forehand, earning her a point.

The Regulars, who weren't on the court playing, watched Taiya in her fierce match against the 'BURNING' man. They witnessed her performing a elegant overarm smash right in front of the net.

"His timing isn't bad....but not as good as mine!" grinned Eiji, placing his hands behind his head.

"He's good," commented Fuji shortly before he continued observing other matches.

Soon, the games were 3-3 all.

Kawamura's Burning Serves were causing difficulty for Taiya, who used a lot of her built-up arm muscle to return it. There was too much great of a difference between a boy and a girl.

_'But I'm not just any girl...'_

Taiya quickly sped up the pace of her steps before scoring another point, much to some onviewers astonishment.

_'I'm Sanzushi Taiya, dressing up as a boy.'_

The girl groaned as her racquet was once again knocked out of her hands, leaving her right hand trembling slightly. _'Again...__麻烦__！__(troublesome).'_

_'Let's play!'_

_----_

"He's quick," commented a rather relaxed Momoshiro. "Just finished my game- what's the score?"

"5-4...surprisingly, it's Tai-chan's lead," said Eiji, a small frown on his face. "This seems so odd, ne?"

"C'MON, BABY!! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!!"

Taiya could only sweatdrop. _'Lucky bastard, has so much energy. Oh well....'_

Her muscles screamed for a break, and it was then Taiya cursed herself for coming so unprepared. _'I might have just got a bit full of myself. I really underestimate some things in Japan. Oh well, every Asian admires their own race most. Wait, but I'm half...'_

Kawamura served another ball to her left, unguarded side of the court in order to make Taiya run but to everyones surprise, Taiya displayed a rather different defensive action.

She took one step before she had thrown her racquet to her left hand and hit a forehand return back. Staggering slightly, she fell onto the green courts, panting and tired and also seemingly amazed at her own reaction.

"_Nitouryuu ('two-hand style', or ambidextrous)_..." a rather bored Ryoma muttered, pushing his cap forwards to shield his eyes. Fuji smiled slightly.

"Well isn't this interesting."

"Eh, someone other that _chibi_-chan is _nitouryuu_? Cool, cool," Kikumaru chipped in.

"15-0, Sanzushi lead."

_'That was risky against a power player like him.' _Taiya concentrated, eyes set and hard. _'Concentrate...I should be able to predict his next move if I can set out his movements and habits right. But I've never been too good at that. He's got power- lots of it..and stamina too. Most of the players I've played would have been worn out by now.'_

_'I can't do anything against his power; it's too great. My wrist feels like it'll break if I continuously return his shots. I can only rely on my legs now; I'm not small for nothing/ So speed and techniques. That's all I can rely on now. But how lucky was I to be able to use my left hand! Brother really meant it when he said it'd help.'_

After a minute or so of intense rallying, Taiya flicked her wrist and backhanded it, adding a backwards slice to the top of the ball.

Kawamura made his loud 'war cries' but when his racquet made contact with the ball...

Taiya watched as the ball crawled up and off his racquet before landing behind him with little bounces. This caught a few peoples attention, especially the Regular on viewers.

"30-0."

_'The Crawl movement...right, brother?'_

"I hate being underedstimated because of my size." She gave a very innocent smile as her eyes opened revealing the light violet eyes beneath, holding her racquet frame lightly. "Let's go."

----

**A/N - Old Author Note deleted. The new note is; I really hope I checked this over enough.**

----

(Checked over a tad on 27 December, 2007)


	3. New Fear: Inui Juice and Fuji

Re-cap: "Please, I hate being underestimated because of my size." she gave a innocent smile as her eyes opened revealing the light violet eyes beneath, holding her racquet frame lightly. "Let's go."

Games were 5-3, 30-0 points, Sanzushi lead.

----

Taiya and Kawamura were attracting a lot of attention from onlookers, which further disturbed Taiya's concentration. Once again, her racquet was completely blown away from her hand from the power behind the returns Kawamura performed. Soon....

"30-40, Sanzushi lead."

"Match point already....."

"No way....something must be wrong...."

Taiya started to huff heavily, shoulders slouched as she gripped her racquet tightly in her sweaty palms. She wished for the ball to come at her easy, so she could just smash it and take the game, before going off to take a nap somewhere. It was also acutely uncomfortable having your hair bundled up in the hat while sweat builds up.

_'Did those Chinese Nationals people just friggin' let me in on whim?! Why is it so difficult to win?!' _

The people who were present at her match chatted amongst themselves. _'Didn't think I could manage too well, eh? Nobody does. Anyway...I'm faster than him; that's all there is to it. I can catch him off guard with my agility and force him to the right side of his court. Then if I aim for the corner of the left box on his court, it'll be harder for him to react, since he is right handed. Okay, let's win this.'_

She manipulated him to her desired spot on the court when she had performed a drop shot near the front. Being the ever-burning Kawamura, he had dived for the ball and lobbed it.

_'Chance!" _

Taiya took her chance as she smashed it right in the far left corner of Kawamura's court - like planned. A heavy silence hung in the air for a split second before an eruption of chatter ran throughout the crowds.

_'__天啊__(Heavens)!__ I WON!...I'm so lucky he was the only guy who was a Regular in this block. I don't think I'd live for another match today. -.-'_

Her aching muscles brought her down to her knees as her perspiration rolled off her face. Panting and gulping in the air happily with a satisfied smile on her face, the girl screamed victory in her head. Oh yes, she does a lot of that..

The series of people around were watching, all whispering and muttering things, some things too complicated and long for Taiya to catch onto. But she definitely could piece things together, and got infuriated after hearing a string of words from one guy, including 'Are you kidding?

Taiya's eye twitched violently once again. _'Are they calling me WEAK?! JUST BECAUSE I'M SMALL, DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T KICK YOUR A-'_

-The author prohibits the end of that sentence-

Lactic acid coursed through her muscles, restraining her movements to a minimum. Fuji smiled and took the racquet from Kawamura's hands, making him turn back to his somewhat-timid self.

Kawamura and Taiya both walked up to the net and shook hands after a good game,

"It was a great game," she said between breaths. "One of the toughest in my whole playing career at school."

"It was a good game, I agree. Nice effort."

"Thank you."

Girls who had been watching had done a series of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. The hair at the back of Taiya's neck stood up.

_'Are they 'ooh-ing' at that guy or...me?! No! Don't tell me I have a strange and highly unnatural pheremone level!'_

_'DAMMIT! I SHOULD HAVE HUNG OUT WITH GIRLS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER!!'_

_----_

The clock beeped it's familiar, irritating sound and once again a pillow came to help it meet its downfall.

Taiya sat up from her bed, the morning sunshine making its way through her curtains. She yawned. "The last day of the ranking matches, eh? Time to go."

Glancing at the neat, male uniform hanging on the knob of her closet, she grinned before she started to change.

-

"What do you think of the new guy?" Ryuzaki Sumire asked the boy beside her. Tezuka merely closed his eyes, a sigh escaping from his lips.

"We'll wait first. It's best not to rush decisions."

"Heh, you're right."

"Nya, Oishi, that new guy is pretty good, eh?" Eiji said as he stared at Taiya sitting on a bench, trying to lie down to get a good sleep, apparently tired from all the matches. She had successfully secured her spot with little difficulty.

"Ah, he's a new transfer student from China," explained Fuji. "He must have a fair few decent years of experience. He has remarkable speed (though he lacks power for a guy- shameful)."

"I think you found yourself another flexible partner, Eiji," commented Oishi, while Eiji only clung onto him and let out a '_nya'_ sound.

----

"That was a nice match with Taka-san."

Fuji came and sat down next to a tired Taiya on the bench. She smiled and thanked him.

"He's amazing, that guy," she said, shifting on the bench uncomfortably, her smile turning rather nervous. "It was a really difficult struggle...I was afraid I wouldn't make it. Time is everything, right now."

"..."

Suddenly Taiya gasped and spluttered, "_G-gomen! (sorry)_!" She inwardly smacked herself across the head with a club. "I'm rambling on to you even when we're not that well acquainted! I apologize!"

Fuji seated himself beside her with a chuckle, waving it away. "So anyway, why do you plan on joining as a Regular here in Seishun Gakuen?" he asked.

Taiya fell silent for a while as she thought. _'What was it again that I came to Japan for....? Is this why brother called me an idiot?'_

_'Hmm, yes, you're a idiot!! Brother was absolutely right! You're an idiot, idiot, idiot! __笨蛋__.'_

_'Even my own head is ganging up against me by itself...'_

_"Sheesh, got that right, moron. I'm pretty sure a lot more people would agree with me."_

_'...Was I really this nasty-mouthed?!'_

Fuji waited for her answer patiently. It was some time before she spoke. "Why are you interested?"

"Because it's good to become better acquainted with people, isn't it? Especially when they are in your class, your next door neighbour, and also probably a new team-mate."

She laughed good-naturedly. "I don't know about that...but it's good to think about!" she grinned. "Well, in answer to your question, Fuji-san....I came specifically to this school since my mother had recommended it. She apparently had attended this school herself as a transfer for a year- as well as my older brother, come to think of it. Wait, no, that was a different school; whatever. Anyway, I'm here in Japan playing tennis to...well, prove something. Prove myself."

"For who?"

He saw Taiya- or Taichi as she is known to him- give another fox-like grin.

"Important people...and some un-important people in my life."

"....Ah, how nice- _'un-important' _people."

They both chuckled.

-

_'My God....'_

The Chinese-Japanese tranfer's eye twitched in fear.

_'There's a Mother Hen, an acrobatic happy-go-lucky guy, a power-filled eating machine, a shorty, a human Ice Block, a MPS guy, a Viper, and Fuji-san, a scary person who has a smile of a clown!' _Taiya thought as she studied the various Regular players from Seigaku as they commented on her win. _'Unnatural..unnatural!'_

"Hey, Tai-senpai, you look like a girl," Momoshiro joked heartily after the assembly line up. A racquet was instantly raised in the air in a threatening manner, with a not-too-pleased Taiya unconscious to her own automatic actions.

"Do you have a problem with that?" she said in a dangerous voice in rather sloppy Japanese, cocking her head to the side. Momoshiro sweat-dropped, hands held in a defensive position in front of him as he smiled nervously.

"_Iie_, Tai-senpai...." _'First Chinese person I encounter is some really freaky bipolar tennis player. I don't wanna see what he's capable of besides tennis...!'_

"Everyone, dismissed!"

"_Hai_!"

-

Taiya found herself walking home again with the company of the oh-so-great (no sarcasm intended) Fuji Syusuke, after remembering it takes her about forever and a day to find her way around any local community. She was blessed that he was a nice guy, albeit rather mysterious and odd.

"What is China like in terms of local tennis clubs?" asked Fuji, politely striking up a conversation.

"They are...." Taiya struggled to find the adjectives suitable to describe her thoughts. "...very good? But there were not much, seeing as they enjoyed martial arts, badminton and ping pong more -.-." (In Japanese, if I'm thinking it up correct, a lot of her sentences are simply set out, and her grammar skips some particles.)

Fuji let out an angelic laugh while she smiled along with him. And soon they reached their street.

_'Oh my God, what do guys say when they bid good bye to each other? Hmm....I can only think of those African-American rappers! Okay,__星花__(Xing Hua, her name)__, DON'T SPEAK LIKE A RAPPING AMER-'_

"Yo, see ya, dude! Catch ya next time, ma brudda (my brother)!" she ended up saying in a rapper-style American voice (in English).

Then what she had just said hit her like a brick, just as Fuji quirked an eyebrow.

"Uh...."

Taiya slowly walked to the front door, and tried not to run in the process, but once she reached the door and opened it, she slammed the door behind herself forcefully, sweating from embarrassment.

"I can't believe I just said that."

--------

The next day, right in the morning, Taiya left home earlier than usual, and thankfully Fuji did not seem to be coming out at the same time; his questions were unusually observant, especially when it came to the made-up Sanzushi siblings.

Taiya arrived at school, slightly sleepy, but when she saw all the other Regulars, Fuji included, already stretching and practicing a question mark appeared over her head.

"_Ara_?"

"Sanzushi, you're late! 20 laps!" came the irratating voice of the statue Tezuka, making her grumble. But she didn't complain; she had not been in China for nothing. Strict discipline was a requirement, respect was enforced, and the best grades in the class were expected. Yeah, harsh.

"_Hai!_"

Taiya began running her laps, and the red-headed acrobatic player called out to her. "Mornin', Tai-chan!"

"Mornin', Kikumaru-san," she huffed as she reached her 3rd lap. _'Tai...chan? Still?'_

"You're clever not to talk back to _buchou_ because, you know, he'll increase your laps by a couple of fold."

Taiya sweat-drop before nodding. "Thanks for the advice! Um, what's up with this?" she asked, totally oblivious to what was going on. There were tennis players everywhere, including the Regulars.

"We had a scheduled morning practice today," he replied with a grin. "You know, _practice~_? Training?"

Taiya felt like a bunch of bricks just fell down on her. Inwardly, she had fell on her knees and grabbed her head in agitation. _'Oh my God, of course! _Renshuu~_! I thought he meant that we had to practice regularly- oh my God, I stuffed up already...' _

After laps, stretching, and some practice shots with some non-Regulars, Tezuka soon called out to everyone on the courts.

"Alright, everyone gather up!"

"I shouldn't have to say this, but the Districts are right around the corner," Sumire explained. "The nine chosen Regulars at the ranking matches...they will have to train hard in preparation for the tournament." ("No duh." Taiya muttered). "The level of tennis at all the other schools have increased." Sumire smiled lightly.

"Therefore, don't take it lightly. Adjourned!"

"Well then, practice will continue. Second and Third year members in Court C. Court A and B will be for Regular members," ordered Tezuka.

"Finally," Eiji said in relief, stretching as Tezuka continued his ordering-everyone-around thing.

"Wait a minute."

The Regulars all turned to stare at their ageing coach.

"For the Regular members...I have asked this man to prepare a special training menu."

All of the Regulars watched as a man with spiked navy-ish black hair with rectangle glasses shining in the sunlight appear before them with a smile. He was carrying a cardboard box, filled with who knows what inside.

"Inui," everyone but Taiya chanted. _'I forgot his name...'_

"Yo."

He dropped the box onto the ground, and Taiya and Eiji peered inside. What appeared to be weights and tennis balls adourned with different coloured markings were inside.

"To survive until the national tournament, first of all, we must train our footwork," Inui said, as everyone was putting on the blue straps on their ankles. Inui held up one. "'Power ankle,' adding two 250g training weights, including the socks, will weight 1kg."

"Hmmm, that's not a lot of weight," Momo stated, a little confused. Ryoma was lightly jumping on one foot, as was Taiya before she high kicked the air with her arms in front of her, as though she was prepared to spar someone in a martial arts match.

"Hmm, not bad."

"Furthermore, red, yellow and blue cones along with colour-coded red, yellow and blue balls have been prepared." _'This seems interesting. What type of training would this be...?,' _Taiya wondered.

Eiji smiled as he walked a few steps, his racquet behind his head. "Oh, I see~!"

"Make an error, and it's over, right?"

Inui nodded.

"Here it goes, Eiji!" Inui softly lobbed a ball towards Eiji, and everyone watched as Eiji swiftly returned the ball to the correct coloured cone.

"Red!"

Taiya's mouth was opened slightly in awe. "_Su-sugoi_! Kikumaru-san is amazing!" she said in awe, unable to further epress her thoughts with her limited Japanese.

"That guy," smiled Oishi, the vice-captain, rather fondly, "He's always had a good vision; the best in our team," he informed a nodding Taiya.

"Ahh! What is this?! It was red afterall! Inui! That's not fair...you cheater!" They all heard the red-hed remarl as he had been promptly tricked during his training, resulting in him hitting the ball to the wrong coloured cone.

Taiya laughed as Inui explained to a shocked Ryoma and Eiji that after people lose their stamina, their judgement is impaired too. _'That Inui guy is good. Good advice.'_

"Kikumaru, swap positions."

"By the way, I forgot to tell you, those who make errors will drink Inui's special Vegetable Juice," Inui said with a smile. An evil smile. While holding up a glass with a dark, moss-green substance swishing inside, it seemed as though all time had stopped as everyone focused their attention on that one pitcher- something they didn't know would probably become their new fear in the very near future.

"Wha-what's in that?"

"Food, don't worry about it."

Eiji smiled nervously at Inui, as though hoping it was a joke, but Inui just gave a evil, twisted smirk. A few words increased the Regulars doubts.

"The taste has been thoroughly adjusted."

It wasn't soon after a cup had been downed before Eiji had sprinted to the taps with a face crossed between disgust and shock- shock at that such foulness could possibly exist.

"Blah! What is this?! Water, water, water, water, water!! AHHH!!" He screamed before running towards the door, shouting in disgust.

Slowly, more people began to disappear...and it didn't seem like they were coming back for a while.

"What are you doing? ("What are YOU doing, letting that guy feed us poison?!" Taiya shot back, outraged.) Next, Oishi and Kawamura!" Sumire commanded. It was easy to tell what they were thinking.

_'Can't...make a mistake!'_

Both had to run towards the taps after the First Year. Kawamura' hands even shook when Fuji gave him his racquet.

_'I haven't even lasted a month yet! Don't let me die...I'm honestly begging you, God (even though I don't believe in you)...'_

Even the great Kaidoh hissed before he ran after his team-mates, as did Momo before him. Then...it was Taiya's and Fuji's turn. Taiya was sweating from her state of nerves; she didn't want to taste that stuff EVER in her short life. Sumire hit the ball towards her, which she quickly took into mind. Swiftly, she returned it to the correct coloured cone, making it wobble on the spot. Sumire smiled.

Taiya suddenly stumbled, her ankle rolling but....

Then-

"It happened," Momoshiro croaked out from the ground he had collapsed onto after his return from the taps. She had....hit the wrong cone.

_'.....__啊！__(ah!)' _o.0

"Come on; drink up," Inui grinned, his glasses flashing. Those still conscious watched as Taiya slowly lifted the glass to her lips and-

The contents swished in her mouth. Time stopped once again.

First thing to come into Taiya's mind was....

_'WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!'_

The taste of grass, something salty, and citris fruits which didn't even taste like citris fruits met her mouth.

"死三八!" (A curse which doesn't even make sense in this context)

Sumire and Inui watched Taiya, like all others, run towards the taps, gourging herself on the tap water along with several other Regulars still trying to rid the rancid taste from their mouths. The Regulars all walked back glumly, clutching their stomachs and groaned before Taiya saw Fuji, the _tensai_, even make a mistake.

"Fuji! You did that on purpose!" Eiji exclaimed accusingly.

"Yes, I wanted to try it at least once."

Taiya's face contorted in disgust. _'My next door neighbor is INSANE! You take one look at that and you know it's inconsumable for humans!! What....what __**is **__he?!'_

Fuji slowly drank the contents before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Ah! That was pretty good, I recommend it!" he said, earning a sweatdrop from Inui.

"LIAR!" Eiji exclaimed before he slumped to the ground, groaning while Taiya chuckled painfully.

Taiya sat on the ground, feeling her stomach acids react quite different from normal - or maybe Inui's so-called Vegetable Juice was some form of newly improved Hydrochloric acid. A science miracle/disaster - or new cheap way people can commit suicide.

But we all know bullets are kinder.

Inui Juice was slow and painful.

As everyone laid on the ground desperately clinging to life, Inui pointed out the various weaknesses the players had.

"Everyone did better than I thought. Kikumaru, you have a habit of losing your grip during your shot. That'll improve if you develop your forearm muscles," Inui said a matter-of-factly. "Oishi and Kaidoh have to work on their forward/backward movement. Kawamura and Fuji have to work on their left/right dash. You need to develop your quadricept and tricept muscles."

"Where are those muscles?"

"Momoshiro, your accuracy would improve if you hold your shots to 70% of your full strength."

"_Hai_...."

"Tezuka did well in not missing any, but he needs more flexibility. Your expression is too cold."

With that, everyone sniggered into their hands. Inui turned to Taiya.

"Sanzushi, your concentration is easily broken- try to focus more on your surroundings and your body. Apart from that, your basic skills are very well developed- just an increase on stamina would be good, since it irritates your concentration even more so if you lack it."

"Uh- _hai_!" .

Inui started to move towards the box again, rummaging through it. "Okay, back to the subject. Let's add one more block (to the weights)."

"Wait a sec, Inui," Sumire cut in. He turned to her. "Five weights are okay."

Everyone all turned to stare at Inui's ankle, and saw him with the same weights. "It's the same as you?"

"We're gonna eventually end up with 5 blocks, right, Inui-senpai?" Momo said with a smile.

"I don't even mind six blocks," Ryoma said airily.

"Ah...6 blocks sounds alright I guess," comented Taiya mainly to herself, seeing as she wasn't really acquainted with everyone else.

"No for Regulars...."

"...Up to ten weights."

Everyone froze for a split second, comprehending these words before balls were all served towards Inui.

"It's not funny, you-!"

Sumire only chuckled. _'By increasing your stamina, your skill improves several fold....'_

_'Everyone's so interesting!' _Taiya chuckled to herself.

----

"....._Hai_, so I'll leave my _son_ in charge of you these few days. Why, thank you so much for the offer....!"

Taiya heard the sound of her mother talking to another person. Someone...female. When she approached, Taiya's mum gave a bright smile.

"Ah, Taichi, this is Yoshiko-san!! She's Fuji-kun's mother. I'll be leaving for a while for work, so you'll be under their care for these few days. Say thank you to Yoshiko-san!" she said cheerily while Taiya gripped her head in alarm, a dramatic flame background behind her (a blatant anime thing).

_'NO WAY! AHH!! __妈妈__(mum)!!! WHY DID YOU MAKE ME STAY WITH THEM?!' _

"Hmm, is there something the matter, Taichi-kun?" Yoshiko asked, worried. Taiya realised she was showing every sign of shock, and quickly covered it up with a grimace.

"_Iie_....I just ... remembered I had some work to do! Ah hahaha!" _'Mum.... if this ruins my chances in being in the team, I'll NEVER forgive you!' _"So..**mum, how long will you be away for?**" said Taiya in a sickly sweet voice, her eyebrow twitching. Aiki smiled again.

"Oh, not long. One week."

_'ONE WEEK?! YOU'RE LEAVING ME WITH THE STOMACH-OF-STEEL FUJI SYUSUKE'S HOUSE ALL ALONE FOR A WEEK?!'_

Taiya twitched violently.

"Oh....i-is t-th-that so? W-well, I'll b-be in my room getting....getting ready."

Aiki placed a hand to her cheek in mock worry.

"_Ara_, my son twitches _so_ much."

----

"Goodbye, dear mother."

"Ah, Taichi-kun, I'm sure you'll get along just fine with my son, Syusuke, ne?" Fuju's mother winked at her reassuringly, making Taiya just have more doubts.

_'I guess it's better than drinking Inu's special Vegetable juice. Unless...no way, he...HE DIDN'T BRING SOME HOME WITH HIM, DID HE?!'_

The one week of taking extra precaution has just begun.

----

[Old author note was deleted since I edited this chapter today, 27th December.]


	4. Under The Same Roof

**Special Thanks to:** Accidental. Enlightenment, merissala, White Alchemist Taya and mesmart. -bows- Arigatou gozaimasu.

----

Taiya walked alongside Yoshiko (Fuji's mum) to the front door somewhat heartily. She was nervous. Not because Fuji was one of the most admired guys in the school. More of because the chances of her getting caught increased by, in Inui's calculations, 67 percent. She did _not _know how she got that number.

_'I'll say I have migraine...must keep head insulated or I suffer bad headaches. Yes, that'll work- uncle had that himself.'_

"_Hai,_ Taichi-kun, welcome to our home."

Taiya took off her shoes and neatly placed them on the shoe mat. It was normal, and cozy. The walls were white washed with Eruopean paintings and some Japanese wall scrolls hanging from place to place.

"Your house is very beautiful- thank you, Yoshiko-san."

"Ah, that's fine. I hope you have a comfortable stay at our house," she said, smiling that oh-so-familiar smile.

_----_

Fuji walked down the steps of the stairway to wash his cup he just used to drink out of. But when he reached the foot of the stairs, he was surprised to see Taichi, his Regular team-mate and classmate, standing there looking around.

"Ah, good afternoon, Taichi-san," he greeted with a small wave. .

"Good afternoon, Fuji-san," greeted Taiya in response after turning around.

"_Ano_, what are you doing at our house?" Fuji asked in polite curiosity.

"Um...my mum is out for work. Unfortunately, she doesn't trust me home alone," Taiya smiled.

"Ah, I see."

"Syusuke, show him to his room will you?"

"Yes, _kaa-san_ (mother)."

Fuji led her into a brightly lit room. A futon was laid on the ground, as well as a small desk in the corner with a small lamp set upon the surface.

"Thank you, Fuji-san," Taiya spoke, before sensing the gaze resting on her. He didn't seem to take his gaze away too and it was unnerving how she didn't really know if he was staring or closing his eyes to enjoy a silence. Unfortunately, her patience and manners were tested and she couldn't hold back her irritation anymore.

"What are you staring at?!" She instantly let out a small gasp, almost shocked at her own outburst. Fuji seemed unfazed.

"No, it's nothing- apologies on my side. It's just that...you resemble your sister very much."

"...is that supposed to be a compliment or something offensive?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe both."

Taiya flushed in anger again; _how irritating this guy was! _"W-what did you say?!"

The plan to be polite all the way through her stay seemed to have failed miserably. Oh well.

He gave a ringing laugh. "Have a nice stay~!"

He quickly- and swiftly, might I add- left the room before Taiya could perform an action which might not been deemed safe. Taiya was given the impression she'd get the same sort of treatment in Japan as she did in China from her peers; constantly teased for her short-temper (and height). Taiya heaved her breaths in her chest.

_'I can't believe I let that guy get to me...but I better watch my step- I am already dubbed as a guy who looks like a female. I must make it to the Nationals!'_

_----_

Fuji stood by the doorway of the guest room, supposedly bringing drinks up only to stand at the doorway watching 'Taichi', studying the actions of his new next-door neighbour. Nothing really interesting. But then it hit him; where was _Taiya_-san, his sister? Did his mother take her somewhere too?

Occasionally, he would catch _Taichi _tugging on _his _beanie, not noticing his brown-haired neighbour standing there watching hisevery move. Sometimes he would sigh, as though in boredom, and in other events, sometimes Fuji caught 'him'swearing when 'he' hurt himself- such as the time 'he' accidentally stabbed his palm with his mechanical pencil lead..

Finally, Fuji decided to alert his neighbour of his presence. "You really like wearing hats a lot, don't you?"

Taiya rotated her head to meet the gentle, smiling face of Fuji Syusuke. She felt surprised he would come up at all, seeing as she didn't exactly have the most inviting aura around her.

"Yeah, I do. They also protect me from getting major headaches...and it's cold weather down here, so I constantly wear one," she lied before saying, "Excuse me for saying this, but what brings you here, Fuji-san?" In hopes to cover up her last, snappy outburst, Taiya decided to play it cool and try stick to her manners; it was rude to act that way with someone you aren't very acquainted with.

Fuji revealed a tray with a cup. Of something unearthly green. "I thought I would bring you a drink; please don't hesitate to ask for anything."

_'Drink?' _thought the girl with a shudder. Phobia's did not rub off fast or easy- and it was _Fuji Syusuke _handling that drink. If what she heard from Eiji, Taka-san, Momoshiro, Inui, her English teacher, Yamamoto, Oishi, Ikeda, Sawada, Mitsuru and co., then Fuji Syusuke was something to fear of.

WAIT.

_'I-IT CAN'T BE INUI JUICE?!'_

Taiya sniffed her drink cautiously. "This isn't..."

Fuji gave a ringing laugh. "No, it's just lime cordial." _'What a weird one, this guy.'_

_'Thank Heavens!' _Taiya prayed in her mind as she said, "Thank you...."

"I really don't understand- that Inui juice was very delicious," Fuji stated, a wide smile visible on his handsome face. Taiya gave a small jump; _'he knew it's a trigger to the other Seigaku Regulars fears'. _Taiya sweat-dropped with a sigh. _'But you can't hate him. Afterall, he has sacrificed his sanity to that foul drink.'_

"Not all people have ultra strong immune systems," she replied curtly, turning to face the window again. "And you can just call me Tai. You don't have to be so formal," she added in a surprisingly more inviting tone.

"Okay then, Tai-kun (he inwardly laughed as his temporary housemate twitched). Anyway, if you need anything, just knock on my door or on Yumiko-nee-chan's door. Feel free to explore," Fuji said before he exited the room, leaving Taiya sitting there sipping the cool glass of offensively green cordial.

_'First Tai-chan, and now Tai-kun. Pet names so fast; those two really are weird. Oh well, let's start on that literature essay...'_

_----_

"Finally! Finished!"

Taiya threw down her pen before gathering up the sheets of her essay, supposedly in Japanese.

'Supposedly'.

"Why does my _katakana _look like stick figures I used to draw 4 years ago?" She stared intensely at the page before beaming. "But this...is...quite an improvement!"

From behind, Fuji stifled a laugh- which Taiya heard. He watched her wheel around and give a frown. "Oh, Fuji-san; what's _so _funny?" _'And when did you get there? -.-'_

Fuji took this chance to take her essay into his own pale and smooth hands. It seemed as though Taiya had been blessed with two hands in which neither seemed to be dominant when writing- both looked the same; messy and scrawled, small and cramped. Throughout the whole piece, the only things which were decent were the Kanji- the things she had written ever since she was 4 most probably. _And this is considered an improvement?_ he mused with the same ever-present smile.

"Well, good luck."

"What do you mean 'good luck'?!"

Taiya sweat-dropped; she had snapped again.

Fuju laughed softly before placing the sheets back onto the table. "It's dinner, Tai-kun—" She twitched again. "—so the bathroom is just at the very end of the hall; you can wash your hands there. And there's soap too; it's really effective on ink."

"Ink?"

Taiya looked down at her hands.

"Oh."

-

"_Itadakimasu_!"

Taiya immensely enjoyed the dinner with the Fuji family. Apparently, Fuji (Syusuke) _did_ eat normal foods (except he kept adding wasabi to several dishes) and everyone in the Fuji residence enjoyed the night with high spirits. Everyone was particularly interesting, or so Taiya thought; Yumiko even agreed to do Tarot Reading for her, which Fuji pointed out was so accurate it was almost scary. It seemed as though every member of the Fuji family was talented.

She just hoped the Tarot reading was positive on her behalf.

**-**

Yumiko waited in her room, all the necessary equipment prepared for the Tarot Reading for this _Sanzushi Taichi_. Yumiko looked up as the faint sound of several knocks were heard echoing off her door.

She smiled slightly. "You can come in—no need to be shy."

The door opened slightly and Taiya stuck her head around the door to peer around the door, before she gave a small smile. "I'm sorry..."

"That's okay. Come inside."

Taiya glanced around the room. One word; neat. There was a small, low wooden table seated in the middle of the room with slips of paper, cards (I think) and such. Taiya could only watch Yumiko as she did her Tarot Reading, keeping silent. Taiya swore that she saw Yumiko freeze among the viewing of her...'destiny', before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Interesting....very interesting..."

Taiya's face strained with her trademark 'nervous' smile worn on her lips. "Eh...you have a....serious expression on. Is there something wrong?"

"No...it's just that these cards (I think she uses cards) say that those around you are infected by lies. The art of deceiving someone is hidden here too....but these cards show that ..."Lies will unsheathe from the Darkness into the midst of Light.""

_'But...it doesn't say if it's Taichi-kun deceiving, or someone else....'_

"Uh....that is- a l-little strange, eh?" Taiya laughed nervously, shifting uncomfortably while trying to avoid Yumiko's piercing gaze—the same sort of gaze Fuji had, although with stunning grey eyes. Taiya tried to avoid doing any natural actions which appear suspicious...like fidgeting. Taiya suddenly sat up.

"Thank you for the tarot reading, but I must go; I just remembered I have mathematics homework to do. Excuse me, and thank you!"

Taiya made haste to leave the room as quickly as possible and went into the guest room where she started to do her Mathematics homework.

Yumiko watched Taiya leave the room before putting a hand on her chin. _'I guess I'll just have to wait and find out....'_

----

Taiya dressed in top speed into the school uniform, making sure her clips and hairbands were in place on her head, as well as her beanie. Speeding down the steps as she took into consideration of the time, she felt herself collide into someone at the bottom of the stairs.

Taiya felt her beanie slide a good few centimetres up her head, nearly falling off before she crushed it flat onto her skull as she fell on her behind.

"Ah!"

"Huh?" Fuji quirked an eyebrow as he noticed Taiya's hair possessed slightly uneven strips of hair. "Ah, Tai-san- I mean Tai- I'm sorry about that."

_'SHI- wait, act calmly (he called me Tai-_san_~! Hooray!)'_

Taiya fixed her beanie on her head again neatly, surreptitiously pushing a stray hair pin back into her hair. "And you didn't see anything...okay, Fuji-san?" she beamed before heading to the kitchen in a hurry, only to hear him call out from behind, "Just call me Fuji!"

Taiya and Fuji both left in a slight rush; that's what happens when Fuji cares for his cactuses too much, and insists on watering them before he left- although Taiya pointed out they didn't need much water. The two had made it on time and both changed to their _uwabaki _(inside shoes) and attended class as per normal.

"...In this, you can see that these questions contain quadratics in them, but rest assure, they should be simple to do...."

Staring outside the window after completing her work in awe-inspiring time ("he's _so _smart," sighed one girl), Taiya stared outside the window. Was this all the year was going to be like? Sure, there was tennis which holds great importance, but was it going to be so dull, just like in China? Well, not that she expected that much, she thought fairly to herself, but she really thought Japan would throw something exciting at her. _Though I might just have a heart attack and can't cope with it_, she figured again.

"Finished already? As expected of Tai-kun, the mathematics genius," said a voice to her right. Argh.

She forgot all about that one individual, Fuji Syusuke.

----

_'53...54...55...56...I'm going to collapse by the time I reach 70...life is cruel. Studies, with constant tennis trainings on top of it, along with a possible tutor (mum, please forget about it!). Inui, you demon!'_

Inui had scheduled a very detailed (to her, anyway) sort of training that she must follow.

"Before each practice lesson, you must run 20 laps around the courts while I time you. You will try to beat your previous record every time—a time trial in other words. I will increase the number of laps where necessary."

Eiji snickered as Taiya replied dully, "I understand..."

"Those laps will be excellent training for your stamina," Inui explained, pushing up his glasses as he continued to read from the clipboard. "Anyway, after your laps—"

"There's more?!"

"After your laps," Inui had pressed on as though there had been no interruption, "50 squats will help your thigh and calf muscles, 50 crunches (sit-ups) for your stomach muscles, the usual 3 minutes of stretches and 50 push-ups to help your arm and back muscles. You shall do 100 strokes of your racquet since you lack power in your tennis. Oh, and any extra laps Tezuka plans to give you."

"W-what?! 50 push-ups?!" Taiya exclaimed incredilously, her voice almost gave way to her panicked feminine one. She hadn't even done that much when she was younger, where her brother—a Spartan in disguise—forced her to train.

"The Regulars here do more, it's just in your case, I took into consideration of your size and—"

"I'll do it," Taiya said darkly. She won't lose to the other Seigaku Regulars. And how dare Inui call her small...though technically she is.

"That's good—start now."

"EH?!"

_----_

_Let's take a look at Taiya's school life so far..._

Taiya ran like her life depended on it to her class for English—her utmost worst subject. Taiya momentarily forgot that she couldn't just come to Japan for tennis if she's enrolled in a school; she had to cope with everyday student life with classes and tests.

Japanese History wasn't much different from her English and Japanese class. Taiya didn't even know how that subject was relevant to any use in the future being as dense as she is, but she managed to get passing grades nonetheless (with the help of an enthusiastic Eiji).

If anybody had a say in this, they can be certain to say Taiya is only acing two classes out of the academic ones; Mathematics and Science. English she barely passed. Japanese—no comment. And curse the things written in hiragana and katakana when dealing with science; she could only get it by the kanji. It seems in Seishun Gakuen, they learn things in science with English equivalents—much to the original characters dismay.

"Po...pot....potassum-"

"No, it's Po-tass-ee-um. Potassium." Fuji corrected. Taiya quickly read the kanji.

"OH! That thing! Geez, why's English so much....longer and difficult to speak...?" she grumbled. Fuji only chuckled.

"You'll get used to it."

"Says the genius."

Sigh. The love of bonding.

-

"_Ne_, how is training so far?" asked Fuji, appearing beside her with his serene smile on. The girl (dressed as a guy) grumbled in response, still massaging her sore arm muscles.

"How would you feel doing 70 push-ups straight, 70 crunches, 20 laps, 200 strokes, 50 squats and then 2 matches with some cocky 2nd years right after that?" she asked in a slurred tone, nearly meeting the ground as she walked, slouching. Her arms and legs felt like they had acid running up and down each strand of muscle and her body felt exhausted. Her feet felt like there were lumps of Gold attached to them, making it harder to lift.

"You'll get used to it."

"Says the genius."

"..." Sounds familiar, eh?

The trip back home was silent, the eerie sounds of crickets making their way to their ears before Taiya remembered she had to buy something at the local store.

"Hmm, what do you need to buy?" Fuji asked.

"A new mechanical pencil, that's all."

"Eh? A new mechanical pencil?" Fuji said, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Did you lose yours?"

Taiya had gotten a fair few...fan-girls now, being a Regular and all, and to some girls, she was _quite charming _(Taiya shuddered at the thought of being apparently _cute_). And when Taiya dropped her mechanical pencil during an exam—and didn't notice—a group of girls picked it up and giggled, thinking it was oh-so-glorious to have a pencil from "Sanzushi-sama".

Curse her pheromone levels.

"I told you, never mind, Fuji."

Taiya bought 2 new mechanical pencils—Taiya couldn't be sure if it'd happen again. Fuji just continued to smile pleasantly and since night was falling along with the shadows on his face, Taiya couldn't help but find it a bit creepy. _'Oh well, just a few more days stuck with this guy...then back to the regular routine!'_

"Oh yeah, I noticed that your sister isn't here staying with us as well. Pardon my curiosity, but where did she go?"

With this, Taiya froze for a split second; why didn't she remember she was acting as the brother of Taiya, a girl who goes to another school? Taiya gulped.

_'Geez this guys perceptive. Or maybe I'm just stupid --" um, what to say, what to say.....'_

"She's at...camp. You know, those girl schools out there, hahahah!" Taiya rubbed the back of her head, eyes closed as she laughed before she shot a sharp look in Fuji's direction. _'Did he buy it?!'_

"Ah, I see, I see." Fuji merely smiled.

_'SAFE!'_

"Why do you ask?" Taiya asked in mild curiosity as she took the plastic bag the owner passed her. Why would he ask about her—Sanzushi Taiya—just a new next door neighbour? Was he planning to prank her?! Eiji _had _once said that Fuji was a sadist. She was fortunate enough to overhear...she thinks.

"Oh, nothing. it was just out of curiousity, like how I mentioned before," said Fuji, his face still containing the weird smile. Taiya decided to dismiss her new nighbours enigmatic ambience and just tally her way on home—to Fuji's home.

"_Tadaima _(we're back)!" they chorused through the door.

Fuji told Taiya she could use the bathroom first, since he was going to....tend to his cactuses. Taiya nodded before going up the hallway and rummaging through her luggage.

As she turned, declaring to herself all is safe, she walked into the bathroom.

_'Thank God, every shower is, like, tense. Oh well, might as well relax....my muscles are killing me...literally.' _Taiya sighed.

"Ah, that helped a lot..."

Wiping the foggy mirror with her hand, staring into her own purple eyes inherited from her father. Her face, small with a slightly firm jawline, looked different somehow. Almost like she was exhausted. Then, scrunching up her eyes and gripping her hair with one hand, Taiya cursed to herself. _'I got too excited with the possibilities of new friendships. I shouldn't have let myself become even slightly vulnerable to Fuji-_san_. And if I don't get too close with him or anyone else, then...it won't matter who I really am or not.'_

Taiya regained her composture before smiling reassuring at reflection, as though she wished someone else was talking to her, saying the same comforting words.

"What am I thinking about?" she whispered to herself with a confident look. "Everything's going to be fine! After the Nationals...I'll just go back to China without telling anyone; not that anyone should care or anything..."

Slipping into some sweat pants, Taiya resumed wrapping the thick bandages around her chest. Then she stiffened at the sound of the door hinge's movement.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't know—" Out of the corner of Taiya's violet eyes, the person froze when their eyes landed on the cross-dresser's face (Taiya: Must you label me as that? -.-). A whirlpool of speeded up emotions exploded within the pit of Taiya's stomach as she turned, ever so slightly, to see her intruder.

And standing there was Fuji Yumiko.

----


	5. Reasons: The District Tournament

**A/N - **Re-cap:

And standing there was Fuji Yumiko.

**----**

"I-uh..." .

"Tai-kun....you...you're...." Her eyes were wide as she examined Taiya's longer hair and much more feminine figure. Taiya automatically drew the towel closer to herself; she couldn't exactly convince Yumiko that Taichi had man boobs—her brother would kill her for saying such a thing under his name.

"I'M SORRY FOR—"

"Ah...uh- Tai-kun, or Taiya-chan, please come to my room after you're done. I'm sure there's a reason to this," Yumiko said with a sweat drop on her head, cutting Taiya off her speech.

"Oh...._hai_," said Taiya awkwardly, feeling her trhoat relax at the use of her normal voice. Yumiko on the other hand seemed too stunned to continue, but for some reason, Taiya was quite sure she had a fleeting suspicion from the start.

After the bath, dressing and all, Taiya still forced her cap onto her head out of habit, and just in case that spark of hope inside doesn't die. Taiya approached the door of Fuji Yumiko, before raising her hand to knock on the door. But before she could the door opened, revealing a smiling Yumiko who standing there with an oddly calm expression. Taiya invited herself in and took the seat offered to her by Yumiko.

"So....you're a girl....Taiya....the one we met on the first day you moved in," she stated softly, closing her eyes, letting her hazel-coloured hair fall onto her shoulders.

Taiya nodded. Guilty conscious.

"Why...no, _what _are you actually doing?"

Taiya tried to open her mouth before closing it again. This action was repeated several times, like a goldfish out of water. Soon, she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her knees, stringing words together in her mind. It was the kind and caring (though sometimes surreptitiously evil) Yumiko of the Fuji family, who had treated her so well during her stay. She owed an explanation, at the very least. Still, she couldnt' believe she had let her guard down and was founded out almost immediately.

The Taiya began to speak. From her plans she had made in China, to her moving down to Japan, and then the whole ordeal in getting into the team.

"Why...why not the Girls team?"

"The teams aren't serious enough. I only heard that the male teams in Japan were to be noted, but the girls news weren't as prominent," explained Taiya, arms wrapped around her knees. "I needed to get away for a while. I....that is all I can fully say right now."

_'Why isn't she telling everyone...?'_

Suddenly, Taiya felt the bed underneath move a little and she looked up to see Yumiko standing, with a gentle smile on her face.

"That's alright, I can see it means a lot to you," Yumiko breathed out. "But...I'm not sure how Syusuke will take this."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Syusuke is....very strange—"

"I picked that up myself thanks."

"Yeah, well, though he is sadistic—"

"Sorry to interrupt, but he is _much _more than just sadistic."

"Ah, well, he likes being around others, despite how he is. And he cares about his friends, even though he likes to watch them suffer," Yumiko explained. Taiya sweat dropped.

_'What a lovely way to be described by your older sister, ne, Fuji-_san_?'_

"Well, all I'm saying is I don't know how Fuji'll take it. Even though I'm his sister....it's hard to pick things up from him, and see how he really is feeling."

An awkward silence filled the air as the two of them stared down at the sheets. Yumiko broke the silence, after coming to a conclusion.

"You still want it to be a secret right? I can't guarantee a lot, but I can try...help you get through this, okay?" Yumiko gave a small smile again, making Taiya do the same.

"It won't be long I promise! I will find the courage to tell them another time, when it's all over!"

"So, you don't really have a sister, do you?" said Yumiko, slightly amused. Taiya gave a small giggle.

"I AM the little sister. I'm acting as Sanzushi Taiya's twin brother, as funny as it sounds."

"Okay, so it's a secret then, until it's revealed."

"Thank you very much!"

----

Taiya woke up feeling like the claw of death just combed at her through her sleep.

Tomorrow was the District games

_'I know how much you guys liked seeing me improve...although it's a little late for dad, since he's kinda....in a _better place_ now. And I can go back to China and prove to all the people who looked down on me; I'm not going to be a disgrace to my dad at all._

_'Brother...come down to see me.'_

Taiya pulled herself from her sitting position to her standing position, before she dragged herself to the bathroom to get ready. The District, the Regionals....especially the Nationals. Taiya couldn't let her team down, of her father and brother down. She vowed that.

_**'Now, **__**Taiya**__**, mistakes are a part of life. Mistakes help you go onto the path called Success, giving you more experience every time. Learn from your mistakes, and build on your knowledge upon them. Do not feel sorry for yourself after a mistake, because what good would it do? You must always look forward, and never look back....'**_

_'I promise to make you proud of the daughter you've got, dad...'_

­----

Taiya sprinted from her Maths class (her favourite class) to the change rooms. She made sure every single guy was out before she entered, or she can just imagine the things she would be known as by her friends and family.

Pervert.

Erotic girl.

Idiot.

Desperado.

After changing, she carried out the training schedule Inui had so kindly organised for her', the Smash Practice in a now-smaller basket, and relative jokes that earned all the Regular's laps.

"Then....see you again tomorrow!" remarked Taiya as she gave a light wave to her new team-mates.

Momoshiro waved before heading off to where-ever he goes, and Ryoma—Taiya already knew he can't be bothered bidding farewell most times. Tezuka, if you count an _aa _as a farewell, then she received a very good one from him. Taiya had left early, already telling Fuji that he would not need to wait for her to go home.

Fuji was just walking with the enthusiastic Eiji, chatting about toothpaste and such, before Eiji departed around the corner to his home.

Walking and enjoying the peace around him as usual, Fuji was thinking of one thing; how to scheme Taichi and possibly Taiya, his new neighbours. It would be fun. And Taichi seemed like a bottling-up person; ready to explode.

Then he could hear the faint sound of a tennis ball being hit, along with the shaking of a fence, which Fuji presumed was under attack by the ball.

He walked a little closer to investigate (more like get his camera ready to take pictures for blackmail if it was anyone there he knew doing something embarrassing) and saw someone familiar...

----

4-5 days left....4-5 more days before Taiya could escape the house of Fuji, with Fuji himself prowling around, sometimes scaring Taiya out of her mind and doing extremely random things. Like...

-

_"Oh! Nearly finished this equation...." Taiya pressed her tongue against her teeth in concentration, trying to complete the difficult and VERY long mathematics problem (including a VERY long and difficult algebraic fraction_—_the longest one she had ever seen) from the top of her head while she wrote down her calculations on paper. _

'Yes! I think I've got the idea of it—'

_"Ah, let's have a look at what Taichi-kun is doing!" someone sang through her door, purposely altering the voice to match a baby's. She immediately got an anger mark, her fringe shadowing her eyes as the plain, grey lead pencil she held snapped._

'Shit! I lost it...because...of....'

_"FUJI SYUSUKE!!"_

_-_

Or the other time when....

-

_Taiya was busily doing some homework before she yawned and rubbed her tired eyes behind the reading glasses she wore. Taiya stretched out her arms before..._

_"INUI JUICE!...is yum."_

_**-CRASH-**_

_"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! GET AWAY!!"_

_"I....sorry?"_

_"What kind of guy raises his voice right next to another guy's ear?!"_

Taiya shuddered at the thought of herself in the future staying with Fuji Syusuke again if her mum went out for jobs. It was a simple scene:

Taiya, dead on the ground.

_----_

_'Forehand...backhand...forehand...backhand...got to keep aiming right at the middle....'_

_-_

_**"Taiya! Aim. For. The. Middle!"**_

_**"I'm trying!"**_

_**"As if! Come on, try harder! -sigh-. Maybe this is impossible for you; you started a lot later than dad and me."**_

_**"...."**_

_**"B-but! You can do it, because you are my sister and dad's daughter, right?"**_

_**"...I'll get better. Then...those people will shut up, right?"**_

_**"Right. Now continue target practice; being an expert at hitting with precision in motion will be your strength; use those legs to help!"**_

_**"Yes, brother."**_

_-_

_'I was born with this weak, female body. I never had too much strength in tennis; nothing to be marveled at. And this is why I became a player that relied on my agility. Brother, you taught me how to use my quick legs to my advantage. For that, I thank you._

_'But I won't thank you for being an ass all the time. Stupid brother.'_

Sliding to the right and uplifting a lot of dirt from beneath her feet, Taiya brought her arm back and smoothly followed through the ball until it hit dead-middle of the target she had set on the fence.

_'I wasn't good at training by myself with new things. So I mastered all the basics.'_

She ended it with one more shot to the middle before it bounced back and got caught in her hand. Taiya wiped her forehead rid of sweat and took a swig from her water bottle.

"Ah, so I was right, it _was _you."

Taiya's eyes immediately opened as she nearly sprayed out the water in her mouth. Pulling a face of subtle disgust, she said, "Hey, Fuji-san. Or would you rather call me call you _-chan,_" she replied quite irritably, a well-hidden mocking tone held in her voice.

"Well, above _-san _and -_chan_, I rather you call me -_sama_."

"Oh, shut up..." she muttered, slightly annoyed at his calm demeanor.

Taiya noticed Fuji was equipped with a racquet, and he had it behind his head, holding it above his shoulder. "Why are you here, Fuji?"

"Same as you; practicing. My, it looks like you were having fun, Tai-kun; may I join? Nice accuracy by the way."

Taiya gritted her teeth. "What's up with the -_kun _at the end of my name?! I'm not THAT much younger than you!" she pointed out, flapping her arms like a kid. Fuji gave a giggle.

"You're getting angry again, Tai-kun. Kun, kun, kun, kun, kun!" Taiya got a large anime-vein on the back of her head as was suddenly drawn chibi. _'This is the so called Tensai?!'_

"Ah, whatever! I don't care no more, _Fuji-chan._ I'm gonna go run some laps, _surprisingly,_" she hissed out irritably.

"You remind me so much of Kaidoh."

"I DON'T CARE NO MORE!!"

After they both satisfied themselves with their 'training' (including a very violent Taiya and amused Fuji who was dodging the many tennis balls served towards him with extra strength), they both sat on the bench, wiping perspiration off their foreheads with a towel and hydrating their bodies with new fluids.

"I never would have though _the _tennis _tensai, _Fuji Syusuke, is such a guy—holding a hobby to annoy new transfer students."

"Oh, am I bothering you? I can stop, if it causes you _that _much distress," said Fuji with an honest smile. Taiya just smiled to herself, shaking her head.

"I'll cope..." Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she started to make her way out of the courts. Tired and irritated with the ever-composed Fuji victimizing her, she decided it was the best course of action. But Fuji only smiled innocently before running after Taiya, walking along her left.

"Stop following me, Fuji-_san_."

"Ah, you have a short temper, Tai-kun!"

"You sometimes say my name as Tai, and I prefer it just as THAT, okay?!" From their first meeting to a little over 2 weeks, Fuji had changed from 'polite and awfully nice Fuji-san' to 'nice with a dash of sadism'. It was scary and rather unique; nobody could have pulled it off better than the popular Fuji Syusuke himself.

"I guess so. But it's fun because you get angry," he chuckled. Taiya was angrier at the fact she couldn't tell if he meant any ill-intention.

"**I really have no time for this. The District Games are tomorrow...hopefully then I will see Fuji actually serious.**"

----

Taiya felt sick as she got up from her bed.

"Today's the day, huh...?" she murmured to herself.

She dressed in her usual attire, and walked out to the kitchen somewhat glumly, meeting Yoshiko, Fuji's mother at the sink.

"Good morning, Taichi-kun. Breakfast will be ready very soon, so just sit down and relax. I know it's a big day for you and Syusuke today. Good luck," she said, he eyes also closed in an everlasting smile just like Fuji's.

"Thank you."

Fuji walked out calmly, he in his uniform looking as normal as ever, with his usual gentle smile on.

Practicing and spending some time with Fuji Syusuke the night before actually made Taiya in awe at him. Even though he didn't do anything too flashy, she observed his fluent movement, his pinpoint accuracy and his marvelous tennis play. This thought made her even more excited to see him in a match.

_'His name and Captain Tezuka's names had travelled to China. But of course, I didn't know them back then. Fuji Syusuke and Tezuka Kunimitsu, the two tennis geniuses of Seishun Gakuen,' _Taiya thought in awe, glancing at the closed-eyed boy every once in a while, who was calmly eating his toast with an enjoyable expression.

_'No...maybe in Japan.'_

"I wonder what the matches will be like. Have you ever played in them, Fuji-san?" asked Taiya to the boy walking along side her. They were both setting out for the courts were the games were held.

"Hmm, yes, last year."

"How were they?"

Fuji looked up at the sky, finger on his chin as though he was thinking deeply about it. "Hmmm....." Then he put a finger up and said brightly, "Easy!"

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked a tennis genius..."

"I'm not a genius—I'm just _adaptable_."

Suddenly, a red car rode along side before beeping the horn a few times. They both stared at the car, and the tainted windows rolled down to reveal Yumiko, as beautiful as ever, wearing a small smile.

"Syusuke, Tai-kun, do you want a ride?"

"Thank you, Yumiko-san/nee-san."

-

"We're gonna win this thing, eh, Echizen?" Momo said with a confident smile to the young freshman, who only lowered his cap and replied with a "Yes."

"Neh, Fuji, Tai~," The two mentioned turned and faced a bright Eiji, "Let's win this, nya?"

They both nodded solemnly.

-

Taiya felt really awkward as she strode along with the other Regulars, now known as her team-mates, through the crowds to the reception desk, and she could hear people mutter and talk behind all the Seigaku Regulars backs. Seigaku must be really famous, Taiya guessed...

Tezuka placed a clipboard with some papers inside onto the desk, looking as stoic as ever. Taiya gulped as she heard his few words, making her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach.

"Here are the registration applications for the nine Regular members of Seishun Gakuen Jr. High."

----


	6. The Districts: First Tennis Tournament

"It's Seigaku!"

"_Kuso_ (damn), it's Seigaku. They look strong," another player commented. Then he stared in surprise.

"_Ara_? Who's the kid? No doubt, he's a freshman."

"Seigaku has great composture. They even got a small fry and a bean to participate. That new guy isn't the build for a tennis player," the other said in awe.

Unfortunately, Taiya heard them. An anger mark appeared on her head as she clenched a fist in front of her chest. _'Did they....just call me a bean?!?!'_

Taiya stared around and observed the surrounding once again; people playing matches, people cheering, people booing, people warming up. Fuji observed Taiya as she scanned the surrounding with her violet eyes, standing still with her tennis bag over her shoulder. "**It'll work out somehow...**."she mumbled, surprised at her sudden lack of insecurity. A voice abruptedly came from behind her, startling her. _'Ne, _Tai-kun—"

"Call me _-kun_ again, and I'll seriously hit you," she sang innocently, continuing her walk around the vicinity.

"Eh...okay." Fuji sweat-dropped. "Well, don't be nervous. Just play freely; not everything is about the game." Taiya raised an eyebrow.

"_Aa_, okay, thanks, Fu-"

He had already left. Taiya resisted the urge to swear.

Seigaku was up against Gyokurin Junior High. Taiya rolled her shoulders and neck until she heard a pleasing crack. "I wonder if the people we're versing next are good players," she commented with an anime sigh.

"It will be fine; relax."

Taiya's stay in the Fuji residence had altered their attitude towards one another noticeably. Ignoring the times the hot-tempered Taiya was about to mutilate her house-mate and team-mate, the unsure walls aheld around them collapsed as they got along with each other in a much gentler, pleasing manner. Not having many close acquaintances in the first place, Taiya welcomed it despite her constant mental warnings to draw a line when she started to fall off track.

"Well, I'm going to warm up for a bit." Before Taiya could say anything, Fuji had already left for a spare court to practice.

----

"Seigaku against Gyokurin; 6 (I know it's 5, but I changed it.) matches are played. In order to win, 4 matches must be won. This is Seigaku's first match. All matches are a one set match!"

Everyone nodded, understanding the rules, while silence entered. Taiya felt some loose strands of hair slip out, and further tightened the cap around her head, earning a quizzical look from Fuji, which she didn't notice.

"So what is going to happen?" Ryuzaki-sensei question to herself. She turned to the Captain. "Don't think so hard, Tezuka, it is better to relax."

"I understand."

"First match in doubles. Seigaku's Momoshiro and Echizen pair. Gyokurins Izumi and Fukawa pair."

"I haven't really seen these two play. This will be interesting." said Taiya to a silent Fuji standing beside her, as she sat on the bench still. He nodded.

"I have a feeling you'll like this match."

"Can't wait then, Fuji-_san._"

"Just Fuji is fine."

"Echizen, let's go with the AH UN strategy." Momo said as he stared down at the shorty—I mean, Ryoma. Taiya cocked her head to the side, confused. "AH UN?" _'Is that native Japanese?'_

"You heard of it?"

"Nope."

The game started. Gyokurin served first.

The ball went straight down the middle of the court, and Momo and Ryoma both went for it at the same time.

"AH!"

"UN!"

Ryoma stayed back and Momo went up front and hit the ball straight down the middle, earning them a point.

"Love 15!"

Seigaku supporters were all cheering and throwing their fists in the air triumphantly. The game looked like it was in Seigaku's favour. There were mistakes, but it was awe-inspiring when the two younger players overcame it with little difficulty.

"I'm lucky."

"Hm?"

Taiya smiled at the sky. "The first matches I see in Japan are already brilliant play."

-

'_6 games to love for Kawamura, Kaidoh and Fuji's matches. They all ended in the blink of an eye. Especially Fuji's,'_ Taiya thought. Literally.

Fuji didn't blink! He's always got his eyes closed.

Her own game, to her surprise, went rather flawlessly. _'Weakening grip as the game progresses. Exhaustion is making his footwork clumsy. But good eye for things. Just not good enough.' _She ended it with a firm smash with a love game.

"Doubles 2-0, Singles 4-0. Total is 6-0, Seigaku wins. Bow once."

"Thank you very much!!"

"Seigaku is strong..."

"After it was all said and done, it was a sweep."

----

"So who are we meeting in the final?" Taiya asked Eiji, whom she had taken quite a liking to.

"Fudomine Junior High."

"They were unseeded."

"I know, Oishi-san told me."

"Fudomine Junior High?" Taka-san (Kawamura) started in puzzlement. "The same Fudomine which had to withdraw last year?"

"Huh?"

Inui walked past with his notebook in hand. "I went to observe Fudomines matches. They are a completely different Fudomine from last year," he stated, pushing up his glasses. Taiya walked up to the front, hands behind her head.

"What do you mean _from last year_? Come on, fill me in please; still new here."

"All the members are new Regulars, except for the second year captain," Inui informed. "The key factor of their success is the masterful leadership of their captain, Tachibana Kippei. Also, the six unknown 2nd year members beat Kakinoki in straight sets."

There was a tense pause.

"The final....doesn't seem to be easy," Fuji frowned. Horio stepped up determinedly, and foolishly might the author add.

"But if it's Seigaku, there should be no problem against a beginner. We'll crush them and win the tournament." Taiya's eye twitched. _'He speaks as though he's actually playing. -.-'_

"It's not polite to go saying stuff like that, first year," she said. "Leadership plays an important part in a team and without the captains, a lot of teams crumble, you know."

"Hey, Horio-kun," one of the other freshmen shook his shoulder. Horio shook him off and crossed his arms. "It's okay. Let me talk. Seigaku can't lose to unseeded, unknown players!"

"Hey, listen to me!"

"What is it?! You're annoying!"

Taiya gave him a light smack behind the head. "Look behind you, first year," she smiled. Horio flinched at what he saw.

"Eh?! Fu-Fudomine!"

Standing there was the captain of the Fudomine team. An air of nobility hung around him and the way he held himself was very proper. Taiya was impressed just by looks.

Standing behind the captain, there were many other players cladded in a dark greenish-black uniform. All of them looked confident and all of them are probably very skilled. Taiya smirked to herself. _'So I have to win these guys...I definitely will win. Because I won't forgive myself if I can't even beat these guys.'_

"Are you Tezuka from Seigaku?" Tachibana asked the stoic captain of Seigaku.

"That's right."

"I am captain Tachibana from Fudomine," he introduced himself. He extended a hand, which Tezuka took a hold of, and they both shook hands. "Let's have a good match."

"_Aa_."

One of those guys stared at Taiya, and she stared back, quirking her right eyebrow. The guy had a dark, deep purple coloured hair, and his eyes were coal-black with a calm expression on. His hair reached the base of his neck, and was limp and parted in the middle on his head. He wore the same uniform as the rest of the Fudomine Regulars. The Seigaku senior and the Fudomine senior locked gazes, staring at each other in silence, as though having a mental match with each other.

"Hey, Karushi-senpai, let's go," some dude with red hair covering one eye said to the violet-haired boy. The boy simply closed his eyes while letting out a sigh, before he walked away, swinging his bag more securely over his shoulder.

"_Hai, hai, _I'm coming, Kamio."

Taiya stood there, feeling victorious. _'He. Blinked. First. Boo-ya.' _Fuji just stared at her from the corner of his eye with a small sweat-drop on the back of his head.

_'He looked very proud for just a moment ago...why?'_

Taiya and the Seigaku team defeated the other teams quite flawlessly, while Taiya kept her eyes on Fuji and Tezuka, waiting to see any action. But there was barely any. Both of them won all their games 6-0, which was kind of eerie. Even she who was complimented to be known as a good tennis player in China, was worn slightly from playing all those matches.

"Game, Sanzushi, 6 games to love."

Taiya walked up to the net and shook the persons hand before going off again, wiping her brow from sweat.

_'Good, I'm perfectly warmed up.'_

Silently, ignoring the sounds around herself (or trying), she began to stretch and get ready for her own match.

"Ah, Tai, it's your game now."

"I'm coming."

She got onto the court and started the game. Like the other Regulars, she left the court winning 6-0/6 games to love.

_'I have to analyze their skills. Seigaku's I mean.' _She glanced at them before adding a quick slice to the ball, sending it towards the other side of the court and thus finishing the game.

"Game, Sanzushi, 6 games to love."

_'I'm not sure whether I can hold up an act like this too long. I'm definitely a girl but...' _Taiya shook her head. _'No use getting caught up now. Best to focus on the matches and plan later.'_

_'I really want the current relationship I have with everyone to remain.'_

----

Taiya yawned into her hand, tennis bag near her feet. She stared inside the bag as she rummaged for a sweat-towel and smiled at her spare racket inside. On competition days, Taiya had a habit of bringing her brother's racquet as a sort of charm; her hidden talisman.

"Understand this, we'll face Fudomine in the finals and they're like nothing like the opponents we've been facing," Ryuzaki-sensei stated seriously.

"It's final; Doubles 2: Fuji and Kawamura. Go get the first win," said Ryuzaki-sensei as she stared at the two brown haired team-mates. Taiya slapped Fuji on the shoulder (in a mate way, not an attack way for once) while giving a smile, which he returned.

"Doubles 1: Oishi and Kikumaru."

"No probs."

"Singles 4: Kaidoh. Don't lose." Ryuzaki-sensei smiled at the Viper like member of the team.

"Singles 3: Tai. Have a taste of a true Japanese win." Taiya gave a smile and a peace sign.

"Single 2: Ryoma. Go wild." Ryoma remained expressionless.

"And finally Singles 1: Tezuka."

The Seigaku Regulars started to walk passed the reporters and the First-years before heading to the court they were supposed to play at. Taiya inhaled some fresh air.

"Japan has some great players, but unfortunately I haven't met many of them yet on the court," she stated with a frown. "It's boring."

Fuji smiled. "Don't worry, I have a feeling we'll be facing some very soon."

"If you say so."

-

Doubles 2 was in play and...Taiya received the second biggest shock in her life.

"Oh my God, Fuji actually opened his eyes!!" Taiya shouted, causing people to turn and stare at her. "Geez, I'm his freakin' next-door neighbour and I've never even seen that," she breathed. She thought he might have had an accident when he was younger involving super glue squirting into his eye. I guess that day proved her theory wrong. Fuji's eyes were an icy blue, and they looked like they saw through everything.

"天啊 (heavens). They were so....blue." Taiya shook her head to clear the daze. But then she realized she couldn't get the look of those icy-blue eyes out of her head...she thought they were somewhat hypnotizing...enchanting....

…attractive?!

She didn't like how this relationship was turning. -.-

Taiya then saw Fuji bring back his arm to hit the ball, but his position was a little strange.... she wondered what he was thinking, since his eyes were so serious.

Everyone watched in awe at the speed the ball went as it sliced through the air, and landed onto the opposite court. But to Taiya's surprise, and to Fudomines own, the ball just crawled off the ground to the side. Taiya's mouth was literally hanging open and she was unable to speak. _'Okay, that was weird. What the Hell was that?'_

"It didn't bounce," Sakurai breathed in shock.

"What was that? The ball just crawled along the ground," the capped player of Fudomine stated.

"That was one of Fuji's three triple counters called..._Tsubame Gaeshi _(The Swallow Return)."

"_Tsubame...Gaeshi_?"

_'_Tsubame Gaeshi_...' _Taiya thought in awe. _'Now _that _was cool.'_

"Tennis prodigy Fuji Syusuke, you're not going to take this lying down, are you?" Tachibana smiled.

Taiya gave a small smile. _'I can't wait to see the outcome of this match...and of course play my own...but for now, it's the prodigy's game.'_

-

Doubles 2 was won by Fudomine, as an injury to Kawamura's wrist made Fuji forfeit the game for his friend in need. That was shocking to Taiya, who only thought Fuji loved teasing people. Next was Kikumaru and Oishi's turn, and they amazed Taiya with how 'in-sync' they were with each other. They ended up winning the match to many people's expectations.

"Next is Kaidoh's, neh?"

"Aa."

Kaidoh managed to pull off a spectacular 'Boomerang Snake', a new technique he manipulated, causing the crowd to go 'ga-ga'. Taiya found out—to her shock—that Kaidoh does three times the normal amount of training anyone else does and all she could do was watch in awe at his amazing stamina. _'I _have _to join him one day on a run.'_

Kaidoh ended up winning the game spectacularly, causing Kamio, the Rhythm player, to be completely crushed.

"It's your turn, Tai-chan." She felt the weight of Eiji sag on her shoulders as he, like to everyone else, hung off her back in a very feline-ish way.

"Yeah."

Knocking the strings lightly with her knuckles to feel the tension. she finally acknowledged that it was in perfect shape. While walking onto the court, she noticed that purple-haired guy whom she had a staring contest against was on the court.

Taiya's eye gave an involuntary twitch.

They both walked up to the net and granted each other with the grip of their hands.

"Let's have a fair game, ne?" he smiled, making Taiya nod once in response somewhat coolly.

"Karushi Sen VS. Sanzushi Taichi, Karushi to serve."

The game started and she watched as 'Sen' threw the ball up in the air before hitting it hard towards her side of the court. She quickly reacted and did a fluent backhand to the right of his court. Naturally, he returned it with a smile, and immediately thoughts gathered in her mathematical head.

_'His style is strategic means and strength play...'_

Taiya did an sharp smash to his court, scoring a point for herself while she yawned into her hand. '_Reflexes....87 percent....reaction speeds....76 percent. If it goes over 100, I don't think I can cope...who am I talking to anyway?'_

"Love -15."

After a short rally with Sen, she returned it flawlessly, only to have Sen quickly catch up and smash it with incredible strength to her court. Fudomine cheered. Taiya straightened up before she frowned.

_'I'm hungry.'_

"15 all."

_'Smashes...strength, 86 percent compared to the strongest smashes I've experience....to think of it, that's still a Heck lot......'_

"Is it just me, or is it that Tai-senpai looks slower than usual?" asked Momoshiro, peering closely at the game.

"He's doing that on purpose," Ryoma said again.

"Huh?"

"Yes, right now, Sanzushi is trying to find out how Karushi reacts to different hits, while figuring out how to counter them, or at least to find a weak spot," Inui said in his robot-like voice, causing some to nod their heads understandingly.

"I need to gather more data on his playing style..." Inui held out his usual notebook, ready to write down any information he could receive.

----

"Game won by Karushi, 2-2."

_But...with a low lob, concentration is slightly off since it is dangerously low to the ground, so in order to catch up to the ball, he ends up hitting it with more strength than he wants to. This would wear him off on stamina...' _Taiya thought fairly, rolling her shoulders. _'All I have to do is to make him lose his stamina faster than my own. Or I'm screwed.'_

She served the ball, only to have him give an exta sharp volley back.

Through experience, she twisted her lean body to the side and returned the ball with a roll of the racquet, making herself smile ever so slightly. The ball soared in the air before it made a slight change in direction downwards to the net. Sen had a face of slight shock as the ball lightly touched the net before falling on his side of the court with almost no bounce.

"What was that move?"

"That's risky."

"Drop...lob?"

Taiya straightened up before giving a smile. "You have known it as the Drop Lob, but it isn't the name, Inui," the girl corrected. "That is just the name of two of the motions it goes through, but in reverse order, so it's actually Lob Drop. Its real name is..." she paused, thinking. She froze and laughed.

"Haha, wait, crud, I think I forgot, hold on a minute."

People fell over, anime style.

Fuji just chuckled. She laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her cap before a light bulb appeared over her head. "Oh yeah, that's right! It's called the _Kibou Henkan_," she laughed, embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head. "I'm so stupid."

"Kibou..."

"Henkan...?" Kachiro finished. Then their faces went to bright smiles. "Just like a Regular!"

"Go, Sanzushi-senpai!!"

"Kibou Henkan? Hmm..." Inui wrote something into his book.

"30 love."

Taiya held out her racquet towards Sen.

"I'll let you on a secret; the good thing about _Kibou Henkan_ is that it is hard to detect when it is coming, since it looks like a regular shot," she explained while bouncing the ball, not breaking eye contact with Sen's own coal-black ones.

Sen allowed a smile to cross his lips. "Thanks for the info. But if you think that's all I've got, you're too arrogant for your own good."

"That's the thing; I don't think that's all you've got, Karushi-san. Let's play harder, shall we?" Taiya smiled. But in an instant, her expression changed into desperation. "Please, I'm starving. Let's finish the game quickly!"

"As usual; a hard-working boy with a stomach that could fit planets. But of course I don't know the Sanzushi family exceptionally well, so maybe he's changed a bit." Ryuzaki-sensei frowned. "Actually, I barely remember much about them, Ryu's children..."

"Game won by Sanzushi. 3 games to 2, Sanzushi lead."

"What do you mean, _sensei_? You've known Tai from before?" Eiji asked. Ryoma opened an eye to watch as he eavesdropped.

"You could say that. I can't really remember what he looked like back then when I was visiting their father," Ryuzaki-sensei stated, arms crossed over her chest. "Taichi rarely plays all out. Actually...." Ryuzaki-sensei stared hard at Taiya. "He's never been _this _carefree before, if I remember correctly. That personality matches his sister more."

-

"3 games all!"

Taiya panted before she sneezed. "Is somebody talking about me...? That's mean—whoa! Don't do that so suddenly!"

"Pay attention to the game."

-

"SISTER?!"

"Ah, you mean Taiya-san." Fuji remarked, smiling a soft smile. Ryuzaki-sensei raised an eyebrow.

"You met her, Fuji?"

"Hmm...we're next-door neighbours so—"

"YOU ARE?! No wonder!" Eiji exclaimed. "So THAT'S how you knew Taichi-chan fairly well, nya."

A quick movement caught Taiya's purple eyes and she noticed Sen suddenly straighten his arm to the right side of his body, in a position for volleying. Except his positioning of his arm was strange, as was his grip. Taiya couldn't help but be curious.

"Hehe, here comes Sen's own move." Kamio spoke, leaning forward from his seat to get a better view.

"Yeah, Sen's..."

Sen shot his racquet sharply towards the ball, causing it to volley straight back at her, aiming for the middle of her chest, near the sternum. Taiya smiled.

"I see..."

Naturally, she bent back arm so that her elbow stuck out to the side, and her right hand was holding the racquet in a uncomfortably position, causing the racquet to shield her chest. She tried to do a weird backhand (but a backhand nonetheless) return but when the ball made contact with the racquet, it seemed to ricochet off to a sharp left.

Taiya's eyes widened as they followed the little yellow ball fly to the side. It flew, cutting through the air with a slight wobble before hitting in the court.

".....Sen's Jagged (Jag-ged) Volley."

"In."

_'What was that...? He sliced the ball with the edge of his racquet....ah, I think I get it.' _

Taiya stared closely at the ball at the side of the court, unmoving.

"By adding a jagged slice to the ball, it loses its natural bounce pattern."

"What do you mean, Inui-senpai?"

"Kind of like how a Rugby ball bounces when it's not skilfully done, the tennis ball doesn't behave in its natural way when bouncing. Adding a diagonal slice to the ball would cause the ball to spin sharply off the racquet either on the left or right, depending on the user. It takes a lot of skill to be able to make it land Inside the court."

"Then why doesn't Sanzushi-senpai do something about it? It looks easy enough to counter," Horio said with an indignant huff. Kachiro and Katsuo glanced at him sideways with rather tired expressions on their faces.

"_Iie _(no), it's not that. Since the Jagged Volley is usually not noticed too early, and since the attack is so sudden, your body naturally freezes up and doesn't have enough time to move." Inui continued.

"Even if you can mentally think it out, it's hard to control your body to react the same." Fuji said, a small frown on his face as he observed the game through his closed eyes…

...somehow.

-

Taiya knew she wasn't in the best position.

Heck, she knew that long ago, ever since Sen started to use his Jagged Volley. Taiya couldn't feel much adrenaline keeping her awake, but she tried to find a counter, even though her mind isn't processing any information. And she had a fleeting impression all her team-mates—captain included—knew she was slacking (she was very, very hungry). Tezuka looked just about to drag her off the court and make her run laps.

Anyway, Sen, much to Taiya's annoyance, kept attacking with his Jagged Volley and earning point after point. Taiya skidded on the court, out of breath. "Dammit, not even footwork helps," she cursed.

Sen served the ball determinedly. _'I won't lose, Tachibana-san!'_

Taiya returned it smoothly but stiffened when she saw Sen get into that same position again. _'Alright, Taiya, get ready for this. Your stomach is on the line if you don't finish quickly.'_

Once again, the ball aimed for the middle of her chest but, to a few people's surprise, she fluently stepped back diagonally with abnormal speed before the ball reached her. She hit a reverse spin on the ball, and it landed in Sen's court scoring her yet another point.

Sen looked slightly bedazzled. Eiji cheered. "Yay~! Jagged Volley countered!"

"What?!"

"Sen's Jagged Volley was returned so easily!"

_'Asses. It's like you guys weren't paying attention to my suffering on the court.'_

"Hmph. You're pretty good," Sen remarked with a smirk. Taiya gave a short bow.

"_Doumo_."

Sen tried using the Jagged Volley against Taiya a few more times, but she realised she found out easier ways to deflect it, or seal it.

Much easier.

All she had to do, she figured, was always hit the ball low towards the net, so that Sen couldn't volley at all, or it would hit the net. Then Taiya used 'the move' again.

"There it is! Kibou Henkan!"

"And now the match heats up," smiled Fuji.

-

"Game Karushi, 4 games to 3; Fudomine lead!"

Mutters were going around the crowd.

"Fudomine is strong..."

"Seigaku looks like they're in trouble now."

"That guy IS small like a bean. No wonder Karushi-senpai's power-packed returns sometimes knocked that Sanzushi's racquet from his hands."

"This is Fudomine's win!"

"**How dare they...!**" growled Taiya under her breath in Chinese at the mention of her size and Seigaku. "**I don't need tennis to kick your ass, people...!**"

"Eh? What's happening?"

"Sanzushi-senpai's....losing," Horio said in disbelief. But they all were surprised when Taiya just gave a smile, which strangely resembled a smirk.

"'If that's all you think I've got, then you're too arrogant for your own good'," she repeated his exact words. She scratched the back of her head/cap, before she gave him a smile. "I told you I would play more seriously now...since I'm close to death due to starvation."

Ryuzaki-sensei smacked her forehead in disbelief. "So _that's _his reasoning...I thought he knew he was in trouble and just decided to play more seriously....what happened to you, Taichi....?"

Taiya gave a grin. "This game, it's my service play, right? Then, it's time for me to 'bounce-back'."

----


	7. Bounce Back Serve

**Old A/N - **Thanks for reviewing, and tsukikagehime-chan, you have failed. The only advice I got was for grammar checks, so that's fair enough, but yeahs. .....you are not a very good flamer, although you have some truth on your profile. But I accept the things I have done wrong, and if you find it uninteresting and boring, just say so instead of going into a lapse on whining on your European life and your problem with America. Also, if you had known better, you would have known Nat was the other user of my account. 笨 蛋.

But to everybody else for you useful advice and point-outs and etc, thank you very much. I appreciate all of them, and will take them into consideration. Lol, so much to consider haha.

--

**A/N as of December 27 (heaps of months after this chapter was released).: **Does anybody still read this? Just as a note, future tennis matches are going to be shortened considerably because long, draggy matches are annoying!

--

Re-cap: Taiya gave a grin. "This game, it's my service play, right? Then, it's time for me to 'bounce-back'."

FYI - the games were 3-4, Karushi lead.

----

"Well...don't underestimate him," Ryuzaki-sensei said with her arms folded. The other Regulars turned to look at her, as though wondering what she meant. (And duh, they asked).

"What do you mean, sensei?" Oishi asked. She smiled.

"Tai shouldn't be underestimated. He's lazy, but he's got great potential inside of him." _'I think.'_

Taiya bounced the ball more firmly this time, fully awake. She served over-arm (like usual) except she nicked the ball on the edge of her racquet, and she could practically feel the irregular spin being applied to it.

Sen smirked; he could get this serve. And then Fudomine would be off to the next matches. They would beat the seeded team.

However, as Sen withdrew his arm back to hit the ball just as it hit the ground, the ball suddenly lurched/bounced backwards as soon as it touched the ground, and hit into the net, before falling back onto the floor.

The Freshmen let out a wail of surprise. "Eh? What just happened, Inui-senpai? The ball just flew backwards into the net instead of bouncing forwards....."

"Hmm...if I am correct, Sanzushi, instead of hitting the ball in the middle of his strings, he hit the ball with the tip of his racquet, and made a swooping motion," Inui demostrated the swooping motion he mentioned, "and caused the ball to have irregular spin. Once it even touches the ground lightly, the ball will change its' rotation with a Reverse Spin, therefore it goes backwards instead of forewards..."

"**Lucky!**" said Taiya happily, her fist clenched triumphantly. _'...Oh my God I almost slipped in the rain just then!!' _Her heart beat was racing as she glared at the ground darkly. _'You have made a powerful enemy...'_

"Ace! 15 love."

"Wha-what the..." Sen said softly as he stared at the ball.

"I told you I would 'bounce back'. You aren't the only one who played against my Bounce-Back serve," Taiya stated with a grin. "You're good, I admit. Continue the game. Fast. My stomach is eating itself," she finished weakly, holding her stomach while Oishi slapped his forehead and Eiji sweat-dropped.

"Bounce-back serve...?" the freshmen chorused.

"This is getting interesting," Fuji said with a wider smile, causing his fan-girls to swoon.

Taiya won the game in a matter of seconds (strangely enough), using her extraordinary speed in some serves, along with her incredible footwork she earned from years of hard work.

"He's got incredible footwork."

"Kamio, you got competition there," one laughed. Kamio shrugged it off. "That guy's not in the Rhythm."

"It's true Tai-senpai has got good footwork and speed, but he lacks power,' Momoshiro said, frowning slightly. "C'mon,_ senpai_! Power up! Power!"

"Relax~! _Rirakushu_!" chided Eiji, hands cupping his mouth.

Fuji gave a serene smile. "_Aa_. He's not the build for a power-type tennis player....or a boy," Fuji chuckled, causing Eiji and Momoshiro to cast him apprehensive glances. "He's like a girl."

"He's not the only one..." Momoshiro muttered, causing Fuji to stare at him.

"Did you say something, Momo?"

"No!"

The last serve, Taiya used her Bounce-back Serve again.

"He won with only serves!" Sakuno exclaimed in awe. Shiba had her camera in hand while watching Taiya play (though she didn't notice) while Inoue told her to remember to take pictures.

"That's our Sanzushi-senpai!!" Horio cheered, causing the other two to side glance at him with sweatdrops.

"Game, Sanzushi. 4-4."

"Don't worry, Sen!! You can still do it!!" Kamio and another guy from Fudomine shouted through their cupped hands.

Sen served an unusually powerful serve, making Taiya narrow her violet eyes. _'He's under stress even though he's tied with me...I guess I could take this to my advantage...'_

Taiya easily jumped and smashed the ball to the far left of the court. "Hey, Karushi-san, remember; let's not hold back, ne?"

----

"Game won by Sanzushi, 5-4."

"Whoa!"

"Seigaku's just winning point by point now! Sanzushi-senpai's not holding back no more!"

"Amazing~. From this Point of View, it seems like Seigaku actually gave games away..."

"I knew it, no unseeded team could beat the number one seeded school."

"I told you not to underestimate him," Ryuzaki-sensei said plainly, shaking her head. _'He's so much like his father...carefree, and always playing around 'til the end....Ryu, you're children are just like you. I have to catch up with you once again; it has been almost 10 years since I've seen you...ever since you moved back to China...'_

"Say, Tai-chan's winning straight points just like that," Eiji stated. "Not only is he good at maths, he's also decent at tennis nya!"

"Of course; none of my _senpai's _are weak," growled Kaidoh, arms crossed and eyes staring intently on the match.

"I'm really curious about his time in China...did he have some sort of special training school or something?"

"With his father, I'm quite sure," remarked Fuji with a guess.

Sen shook with desperation. _'I can't lose! Tachibana-san..._minna _(everyone). I have to win for everyone!'_

"In. 40-love, Sanzushi lead."

"It's completely one-sided for Seigaku!"

"Amazing!"

"You play hard, Karushi-kun." Taiya complimented, perspiration dotting her forehead. She quickly wiped it off with her sweatband.

"I...I won't lose," he huffed.

"I know how much you want to win, but I have to win too," Taiya stated, now unsmiling. "I have to win my first game in a tournament in Japan at the very least."

She served.

He returned.

It turned into a rally.

Taiya cornered Sen into making him lob the ball, and she took her chance. She ran up to the ball, and with a hop of her right foot she smashed it down with precision. But to her surprise, Sen was already prepared and he did his hard Jagged Volley when Taiya was fragile. It hit in and as he panted, Sen smirked.

"You forgot about that...didn't you?" he said. "I won't let you win!"

"I'm sorry, it must be heart crushing but I, too, cannot let you take this match." Taiya said calmly, although inside her body was weak, desperately clinging for stamina. "In that case, I won't hesitate to take my chances." _'Urgh....give me some food and a bed right after this...'_

"40-15."

"It's match point!"

"Go!"

Sen smirked. _'He's stamina is running low... which means his mind loses it's judgement...I could probably do Jagged Volley several times when he least suspects it...and I'll also use THAT move....but for now, I must not let another ball pass me!'_

Sen returned the ball with a powerful swing. Taiya's eyes narrowed in determination before she felt her foot slip underneath her.

"Dammit-!"

Her wrist got in the way of the balls path and it slammed into her hand. Taiya let out a gasp of pain as surprising pressure implanted itself among her fragile bone, and her racquet was knocked out of her loose hand. An eerie silence filled the courts.

"Tai!"

"Sanzushi?"

A heavy silence hung in the air until mutters arose in the midst of nowhere. Taiya stared at the racquet at her ground before taking a look at her wrist. "Guys and their power....." she mumbled.

"Oh no, do you think Sanzushi-san is alright?" Oishi said. Fuji had a frown on.

"Hmm...that ball had amazing speed and pressure. But it shouldn't be too bad."

"But Tai's wrist is thin like a little girls!" whimpered Eiji. Momoshiro got a cold chill run down his spine when he looked at his new _senpai_.

Taiya winced as she held her right wrist with her left hand gently, rotating the wrist until it gave a small crack sound, and she let out a satisfied sigh. _'How did a little yellow-green rubber ball hurt my wrist...?'_ "Are you ready?" she asked, picking up her fallen racquet.

"As ready as ever."

"Nice..."

Taiya threw the now-wet ball up (due to rain) and smashed it as a serve, causing water to spray out. She noticed the ball soaring towards her, and that Sen already ran up to the net.

_'He's going up to the net already?'_

Taiya did a straight pass of the ball to the other side, and saw a triumphant look cross Sen's face. He jumped and smashed the ball into the ground, catching Taiya off guard. Taiya watched the ball fly past before she smirked.

"Clever. Because of our height differences...you took it into advantage," she said coolly while cursing her height. "And since you were so close to the net already, you smashed it just in front of the net, so I couldn't have had time to reach it." _'Also, even if I did reach it, my wrist wouldn't be able to take it...I swear is it physically impossible for a tennis ball to do that..'_

Taiya thought she heard a gentle voice chuckling, making her grow irritated_. 'OH MY GOD!! FUJI IS LAUGHING AT ME!!! I'll get him back after this....how dare you laugh at my height...!'_

"40-30, Sanzushi lead."

_'Damn guys with so much determination.' _Taiya once again threw the ball up and started another round.

It was an intense match, and everyone knew Sen was doing everything he could in order to stop Taiya from getting the last point. She served the ball, much to her displeasure of her now throbbing wrist, and they both were rallying until Taiya felt a spasm of pain. And it wasn't from her wrist either. Taiya started to pant heavier than she'd like to, and her legs felt weaker. The lactic acid was building up on her muscles again. They screamed murder.

_'Okay, I must end the game as soon as I can...before I lose it.'_

"I won't let you win!" Sen shouted determinedly as he struck a super-strong ball. Taiya was stunned.

A shadow cast over Taiya's eyes from under her cap as she quickly returned the ball. The ball suddenly dropped low to the net.

And went over and landed on Sen's side of the court with minimal bounce.

Sen was shocked. Taiya lifted her head and held out her racquet towards him, pointing it at him with a smile. "'You forgot about that....didn't you?'" She gave a grin, causing Fuji to choke out a laugh with Eiji.

"Fujiko~! He won! Yay for Chinese-Japanese!" shouted Eiji excitedly as he jumped on Oishi's back, making the vice-captain smile at him somewhat nervously.

"Game set and match, won by Sanzushi, 6-4."

An eruption of cheers went off as the many Seishun Gakuen students hooted in glee. Taiya walked up to the net as usual and held out a her left hand.

"Great match, Karushi-san," she said simply. Sen stared at the outstretched left hand for a moment, and Taiya knew what he was thinking. He smiled somewhat sheepishly and shook the hand with his hand as well. With that, Taiya beamed and went back to her team-mates. A few steps and....

"Sanzushi-senpai!!"

"Sanzushi-san!!"

"Tai-kun!! Great job!!"

Fan-girls....

"Sanzushi-san....are you alright?"

"......I don't know..."

-

"Ah, so tired! And thirsty," Taiya added as she took out her water bottle and took a long drought from it.

"In that case I've got some of my special, healthy, good cooling down improved Inui Juice—"

"NO WAY!"

"Great job, Taichi." Taiya turned only to be face to face with Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Uh, thanks a lot, _sensei_."

"I guess you still play as well as ever," said Ryuzaki-sensei. Taiya stared at her, puzzled. She knew it; she _had _met Ryuzaki Ryuzaki-sensei in the past! But...that was probably 10 years ago...and she didn't even do tennis back then....

"I remember you, Taichi, were..." Ryuzaki-sensei strained to remember, "Playing heavy matches against older students and always did well. Keep it up."

Taiya rerturned the warm smile Ryuzaki-sensei gave her, and only pouted as she remembered that fact. _'Brother started playing tennis when he was 6 years old...and he was amazing at it. Maybe not so much as Fuji,' _she chuckled to herself at the thought, glimpsing at the Japanese boy standing a few meters away, _'But he learnt so fast...'_

"You should get your wrist bandaged," Ryuzaki-sensei suddenly spoke up. But Taiya waved her right arm reassuringly, bottle still in hand.

"Don't worry! It's nothing—" Then the bottle slipped from her grasp and hit a passing Momoshiro on the head, causing him to wheel around and suddenly pick a fight with Kaidoh. Taiya gave a sheepish look.

"Sorry, my bad."

"Heh, just wrap it."

Taiya's right wrist was now lightly bandaged, and she stared at it with a glare. _'You and my height, curse you all!'_

"You had an interesting match, eh, Tai-kun?" came a voice to her left. She instantly used her left hand and backfisted the person until she felt it connect onto something firm, and turned to see a shoulder. Fuji pouted childishly, which was very different from his usual characteristics.

"Eh, Tai isn't being very friendly!!" he said, rubbing his shoulder gingerly.

"I warned you before, _Fuji-kun_. Tai is all you need to say," she stated firmly, placing her sweat-towel back into her bag. Fuji gave a fake pout.

"But I thought we were friends...." he whined, purposely imitating a child in order to annoy the cross-dressing girl.

"Yeah, yeah, please don't worsen my headache with your Out of Character-ness."

----

In the Singles two, Ryoma ended up winning the game with a false Twist Serve, which was actually a counter spin. He turned to his teammates, who were sitting on the bench.

"Did I make it in 10 minutes?" Taiya shook her head; who makes those sort of bets?

Everyone raised a hand and gave a thumbs up, Eiji doing it with both hands, and Tezuka...don't think he did it actually. Ryoma let out a small sigh of relief. Cheers erupted into the crowd, a few squeals from...fan-gilrs making her shrivel in fear, but nonetheless Taiya beamed happily.

Seigaku won the Districts.

----

"District Tournament winner, Seishun Gakuen. Together with the runner-up, Fudomine Jr. High. We will be anticipating good games from both of you at the Prefectural Tournament. That is all."

Everyone bowed once, and Taiya noticed a girl with short brown hair was clapping enthusiastically along with the crowd, and couldn't help but feel good about herself. It felt damn good to win in tennis; that's why she liked it.

After the bow, Ishida, the dude with the white bandanna on his head turned to Takashi. "_Ano_, excuse me, how is your right arm?" he asked politely. Momo and Takashi both turned and gave a smile.

"Ah, it's fine. It wasn't your fault, so don't worry about it." Then she saw Momo sneak a racquet into his hand. "Here, Taka-san."

Taka went to his Burning Mode, causing Taiya to go into a fit of laughter.

"We won't lose next time."

"Yeah, I'll be looking forward to it."

"Yo viper."

"Shut up, you rhythm runt."

"Um, Sanzushi-san," came a voice awkwardly. Taiya turned to face Karushi Sen, her opponent, and she gave a small smile.

"Hello, Karushi-san. Is anything the matter?" _'I sound so....olden-day-ish.' _Sen only gave a small laugh before shaking his head.

"No, I just wanted to ask if your wrist was okay. I tend to hit hard shots, and your wrists seems very delicate—no offense or anything, you're strong and all but—!" He spluttered, catching the rather demon-like gleam in Taiya's eyes. "B-but...yeah, just wondering..." Taiya brushed it off.

"It's nothing. Thank you for your concern," she added awkwardly at the end, knowing she sounded extremely Second-Language at that moment. Taiya placed her arms behind her head, walking along side Tezuka while staring off at the setting sun.

_'Just a matter of time now.'_

----

Everyone was taken to this Sushi shop, apparently owned by Takashi's dad. Taiya and everyone else all sat down, chatted, joked, Kikumaru slinging his arm over Momoshiro's shoulder and dancing around, until the door opened, and there stood Ryoma.

Silence.

He suddenly closed the door and Taiya laughed out loud as Momshiro ran after him and pulled him inside.

A lot of noise was made as everyone celebrated the win against Fudomine.

"The more green tea you drink, the healthier your body gets, or so my father says," she muttered. _'I don't think I can live with Fuji around, no matter how many tons of green tea I drink.'_ Ryoma took a seat on Fuji's left, while Taiya was 'placed' on his right.

"What is this?"

"Can't you guess?" Momoshiro said in disbelief.

"What do you want to eat first?" a voice said behind. Taiya and Ryoma both turned their heads slightly to see Taka-san there, placing more cups of tea onto the tables. "This is a place run by my dad. When he heard that we won, he closed the shop and made it our celebratory party."

"That's very nice of him," Taiya stated calmly as she took another sip of her tea, while Fuji snickered into his hand (she had sniffed her tea to see if it was poisoned).

"Tai, I'm not evil enough to do _that_," he smiled, while Taiya grinned, slightly pink; she didn't think she'd be noticed.

"Sushi...is it nice? I've never had it before..."

"Mm! It's great—best in Japan," complimented Fuji while Taka-san just smiled, embarrassed. "Isn't it, Eiji?"

The red-head nodded in agreement along with Momoshiro. Eiji was looking around for some good sushi. Fuji happily took a sushi filled with a green paste inside and neared it to his mouth. Suddenly, Eiji appeared behind, causing Fuji to turn in innocent curiosity. Taiya's heart raced.

_'He looks innocent...! o.0 My weakness....!'_

Taiya slapped herself to gain some sense into her, trying to supress the flush creeping on her face.

"Ahh, eating rolls by yourself, that's so selfish, Fuji!" Eiji exclaimed incredilously to the still innocent and confused Fuji.

Taiya pointed to herself. "What, am I part of the background or something?"

"Ahaha, sorry, Tai-chan." Taiya sighed; he just won't drop that suffix, will he?

"Ah, look over there, Fuji."

Eiji pointed somewhere, and 'innocent' Fuji turned to look at where he pointed. Eiji swiftly grabbed one of the rolls, throwing it into his mouth as he chewed happily. Fuji turned back, confused at where one of the sushi rolls went.

A loud wail was heard in the direction of ... Eiji. Everyone broke out of their conversations to stare at him, who was covering his mouth with his hand, tears at the corner of his eyes and a red flush mark over the bridge of his nose. Taiya and Fuji were laughing at the sight, but then a horrible thing struck her head:

What was inside that sushi to cause that? Fuji always eats something irregular.

"What are you eating?!" Eiji exclaimed. Fuji gave a cheerful smile as he held one up.

"Wasabi Sushi."

"Tea, tea!"

Fuji then turned to Taiya, who was drinking her tea. "Would you like to try one?" he offered. "You did say you haven't tried wasabi before."

Taiya stared with an almost fearful expression, but then when she saw Fuji's KIND smiling face, she sighed in defeat. Since he ate it every night with his dinner it couldn;t be _that _bad. "Alrighty, I guess it can't kill me."

"I don't know about that," Momoshiro muttered.

She picked up her chopsticks and picked one up delicately. "_Itadakimasu_." And placed it into her mouth before she chewed. People waited in baited silence. She swallowed, her face puckering up for a second before it returned to normal.

"Whoa," she exhaled some air, waving a hand in front of her open mouth before she smiled in between actions. "Strangely spicy, and stingy on the tongue, but surprisingly it wasn't bad...with the rice with it anyway!"

"Oh no, Fuji affected him with the disease!" Momo exclaimed. Taiya and Fuji quirked an eyebrow.

"Disease?"

"The N.A.N.I disease!"

"Huh? What's that stand for?"

"Nostalgic (yet) Allergy-filled Neutral (foods) Illness!!"

Taiya translated that into English in her head with immense difficulty, before coming to a conclusion. "Momoshiro-kun, does that even make sense?"

He ignored her and continued ranting.

"It's ultra rare, and it only started in this generation, starting from none other that Fuji Syusuke!" Momo said in a dramatic voice, waving his arms in the air in panic. Taiya sweat-dropped at how dramatic he was acting, because she thought it was a joke at the start.

"....and then it'll spread by the tens, hundreds, thousands and then millions—"

"And then it won't be feared anymore, since most the population would consider it normal all of a sudden," she finished for him, not noticing she was helping herself to some more Wasabi sushi, a good pot of tea ready at her side.

Momo pointed at her with a shaky finger in horror. "Only the insane will say that!"

"Uh...right—oh my God, Fuji, where'd you put my tea cup?!"

Oishi and Eiji laughed as Taiya started to yell at Fuji with tears at the corner of her eyes; he had hid the tea pot and her cup somewhere, and she had just taken a nice bite of extra-hot wasabi sushi.

"Oh, this is fun."

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"Ha ha ha, somebody take a picture for me."

The click of a camera sounded off after Fuji had leaned sideways near a spluttering Taiya (her tongue was hanging out due to the wasabi) and he held a picture-perfect smile.

An eruption of laughter came as they saw the picture.

"Tai-senpai looks so funny!"

"What a face! Ha ha ha!!"

"You guys....!"

Hours later, after much fun events, photo taking, eating and drinking, and fooling around, Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka were about to head back to the school.

And for the first time, she saw Tezuka smile at everyone when they were joking around.

_'I have a feeling...that I might just get too attached to the people here.'_

----

**(old) A/N - **Man, oh man, I have no motivation hahaha. Naruto stories are still in action, but PoT, and dealing with those wacky flamers everywhere is extremely boring after a while. Fun at the time, but boring after a while yeah. It just gets too boring after they say the same things again and again. I love reading stories and watching PoT, but writing is getting boring. Maybe I'll just end up finishing my Naruto story lol.

Why the Hell would you think I'm American, tsukikagehime-chan? But there is one thing you are right about; I cannot stop ya with force since I don't know where you live, uh, 'motherfucker' (refer to your profile name.) Doesn't 'motherfucker' have a space or dash between? Meh.

Flames are not bad, but when you have one like tsukikage-hime-chan's, you lose interest in them very quickly. Everyone, learn from this lol. Just kidding.

**(New December 27 2007) A/N - **Edited. Hopefully it's easier on the eyes.

**(December 9th, 2008) A/N: **Given it another once-over examination and corrected. Wow, this story is _so _old.


	8. B for Bonding

**Original A/N deleted. **

Edited chapter. Edited on the 27th December 2007. Will check over time once English gets better.

And I will also try get the exact names of the tournaments, as in Districts, Prefectural etc, because the subtitles are screwed sometimes.

That's all.

----

**Chapter 8.**

The thing that ruined nearly all the Seigaku Regulars moods were the fact heaps of other schools, Tennis journalists, and crowds of people with cameras in hand were swarming around, taking photo's of everyone, and muttering in awe and such and such. Taiya and Eiji both thought it was annoying. They even once considered putting 2 racquets in Taka-san's hands just to get him in his Burning Mode and chase away everyone. Taiya also considered much more....brutal things.

Not fatal. Just brutal.

Brutal as in 'oh just getting a length of thin rope and attaching a carribeaner at the end of it while flinging it at people' type of thing.

Eiji, Fuji and Taiya were at the taps/drinking fountains washing their faces with cold water, the long sleeves of their jersey rolled up to their elbows.

"The sushi we ate the other day was great, huh?" Eiji said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I want to go back." Fuji remarked. Taiya spotted a glint of sunlight reflecting off any object in the bushes again, and she let out an irritated sigh. Fuji froze slightly as he detected it too, water dripping off his face.

"The camera's even following us during break, geez," Eiji said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I wonder how many scouts are there," Taiya said, drying off her face. Fuji smiled, nearing his finger to the tap.

"I wonder..."

Taiya laughed out loud in amusement when he clogged the taps spout with his finger, causing water to spray out in the direction of the bushes and earning some shocked cries of response.

"Ah, my camera!!"

Several people cladded in green clothing rushed off, saturated in water. Fuji gave a pleased smile as Taiya continued laughing.

"Nice one, Fuji!" she continued laughing while Eiji just sighed, "Oh, quite a lot," in a barely surprised voice.

"I'm sure Inui..."

"....or someone is counting." Taiya finished off Fuji's sentence with a small grin. Having spent time with the two of them in both in classes and from after school and tennis practice, Taiya soon got used to both Fuji and Eiji's polar-opposite personalities and respected the fact they were so inviting to her. Well, Eiji was anyway- Fuji was just a pleasant fellow. Through the duration of this time, she had felt closer to these two than to any others, excluding her best friends in China.

_'Well, we're just acquainted. We're not _that _close as to cause problems if I'm caught, right?' _Taiya thought, lowering her cap in a very Ryoma-like fashion.

"_Hoi_, Taichi, Fujiko! Come on! Or _buchou _will make us run even MORE laps!"

"Coming..."

-

"End of break!"

Tezuka called everyone around, and Eiji, Fuji and Taiya all walked back to the middle of the court.

"Training is next for the Regulars. We don't have much before the Prefectural (?) game (subtitles said this, alright?) Discipline yourself!" Tezuka commanded.

"_Hai_!"

"Hey, where's Echizen-kun?" Taiya asked, peering around as she walked slowly with the others.

"He's late because he's a library rep. He'll show up later," said Fuji. Taiya nodded before getting ready for her training.

-

Kaidoh returned the ball with his famous Snake move.

"Look, it's the Snake!"

"He's Kaidoh Kaoru. The one who did the Boomerang Snake during the final Fudomine match!"

"Hey, look, it's the Vice-captain, Oishi. And his opponent is Kawamura Takeshi of the Burning Serve!" they chatted excitedly.

"WOW! This is Seigaku!!"

A little while away, Fuji saw Taiya laughing at the reporters reactions to her team-mates. He shrugged. _'Tai's weird.'_

Then....

"And isn't that Sanzushi Taichi, one of Seigaku's newest Regulars?! He was the transfer student from China who won one of the games against Karushi Sen of Fudomine with only serves!"

"He displayed the Bounce-back serve didn't he?!"

"Amazing~!"

Eiji and Fuji saw her fall onto the ground, anime style, as she heard this.

They could tell she was agitated. For one, everyone first-handedly saw Taiya finishing up the practice game against Momoshiro, winning 6-3 – the last few games played extraordinarily inhumanly, almost like she was an escaped prisioner from the Asylum.

"I wonder what's wrong with Tai-san," Taka-san said, watching the new 3rd year Regular seeth irritably.

Taiya then flinched in pain when her wrist gave in to the weight of the racquet, and she quickly grasped it with her left hand.

"Are you alright, Tai-senpai?" Momoshiro asked, walking up to her with slight worry on his face. _'Senpai was friggin' scary on the court before...'_

Taiya gave a pained smile, sweat rolling down the sides of her face and onto her neck. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. I gotta admit, you got one heck of a powerful shot back there," Taiya complimented, causing Momoshiro to laugh, placing his racquet behind his head.

"Thank you, _senpai_~."

It was true Momoshiro had some shockingly powerful hits, and his timing was incredibly accurate. But it did her wrist no good. Never in her life has she thought a tennis ball could hit so hard. She really underestimated the fluffy yellow thing.

The joint of her wrist felt numb, but Taiya knew it couldn't be because she constantly felt pain erupting from it. Tezuka walked up to her with a stern look on his face.

"Sanzushi, you should probably get your wrist checked. You've been flinching from it for most the training session, and we cannot accept any injured players. Major injuries can result from something small," he stated seriously.

"It's alright. It's fine, really, just a little disturbing that's all, Tezuka-buchou," assured Taiya with a smile, staring down at her hand with a somewhat annoyed expression. Tezuka stared for a while before he nodded.

"Take it easy then. Inui asked you to go to him to collect something. I don't know what he has planned," said Tezuka (in a strangely low voice at the last sentence) before he walked away to observe the other players. Taiya walked away towards Inui, ignoring the flashes of cameras and screams of rabid fan girls (whom Taiya didn't know whether they wanted to hug or eat their favoured Regular members).

From a distance, Fuji's face creased into a frown. _'That shot must have been more powerful than we anticipated...Tai isn't playing as good as usual.'_

"Inui, you wanted to see me?"

"Correct. I just wanted to tell you, everyone has the Power Ankle to increase their stamina and footwork...but I'm going to have you wear 5 kilo ones all day now."

She twitched. "W-what?"

"Alright, I want you to have them on as frequently as possible – that is even outside of training, keep them on if you can. It will help your endurance and stamina by quite a bit despite being something very easy to adjust to."

"...Well, what about bed time?"

"I recommend keeping them on."

"There is no God..."

Fuji watched Taiya as she wrapped the 5 kilo Power Ankle strap a bit higher than the ankle (advised by Oishi) to prevent any damage. He chuckled as he heard her groaned, trying to lift her feet up to jog.

"They feel....really heavy you know..." _'The rice at home comes in big packages of 10kg. To think that I'm carrying the weight of that altogether on my legs only...'_

"That's the whole point," stated Inui simply, closing his book. "Now, same 70 push-ups and crunches, 50 squats, 3 minutes of stretches and now....30 laps should be good." Taiya nodded wearily.

"_Hai_..."

"Now, now, Sanzushi. I acknowledge that your footwork is remarkable but your stamina could keep you down. This trianing will increase your speed and footwork, stamina, lung capacity, and leg muscles."

"Yes, if you think of it that way, it's a lot better, no?" Ryuzaki-sensei comforted the nearly breaking down Taiya, who was leaning against the fence, a depressed aura around her.

"Of course...I am a man," she growled determinedly under her breath. "I will take on all these trainings. I am not a girl."

"There! That's Fuji Syusuke, the _tensai _of Seigaku!"

"Huh?" Fuji and Taiya turned to face the direction of the sound. Taiya's face froze and a dark shadow seemed to cover it.

"So cool~!" crooned some girls as they swooned at the sight of Fuji, who merely smiled.

"Getting used to it, huh? You _were _famous from your second year," said Taiya, strapping on wrist weights to her left hand.

"Hmm, I guess so. You?"

"What are you-"

"Sanzushi-senpai!!"

"Taichi-san!! Play your hardest!!"

"There's Sanzushi-sama with Fuji-sama!! Fuji-sama!! Fuji and Sanzushi-sama! This way, this way!"

Fuji sniggered slightly into his hand. "Quite the ladies man, eh, Tai- eh?" Fuji looked around but only the outline of Taiya was next to him. The real Taiya was long gone on her laps. Taiya clenched her teeth in embarrassment as she ran with the added weight on her feet.

_'So embarrassing!'_

----

Taiya woke up in the spare room of the Fuji residence and gave a bleary glance to her mobile for the time...

7:00am

Taiya's eyes were wide with disbelief O.O

"7am?! It's only Sunday...." she moaned as she flopped back in the blankets almost lifelessly. Although it was such an ungodly hour to wake up at, her body wouldn't let her flass asleep anymore. That's why she hated herself so much sometimes.

After finishing washing up, she noticed Yumiko and Fuji's parents were all away, for work and other duties. Fuji's door was slightly open as well. Did he go out too?

_'Wait a minute- Fuji Syusuke awake this early doesn't sit well with me. He's not a morning person, despite the perfect mask he puts on every morning to school. Goddamit, but it looks so much like a clown.' _Taiya shivered. _'I hate clowns!'_

She peeked through the gap with every intention to just look and then go downstairs to prepare breakfast.

Taiya raised an eyebrow.

Fuji was lying there in his bed with his head tilted slightly to the side, sleeping comfortably with a peaceful look.

Or....was he sleeping?

Poor Taiya was confused; she couldn't tell if he was awake or sleeping since his eyes were almost always closed in that weird eerie way. Taiya stood there for 3 minutes, staring and trying to see if he's awake by doing weird actions and whispering soft words out.

_'Okay, he's asleep. His eye muscles looked more relaxed anyways...' _

Taiya sighed again before heading back to the exit, hoping to get past un-noticed. But before she disappeared around the door frame, with her hand ready to close the door completely, she smirked softly as she shot him another glance.

_'Heh, he really is cute when he looks innocent...'_

Then Taiya punched herself in the face. No way. Thinking like that was definitely too dangerous.

_'I disgust myself sometimes,' _she shook her head before going down again.

_----_

(A momentary Fuji point of view time)

I walked down the steps of the staircase after doing my daily morning routine. I was still puzzled though, as to why my door was closed once I woke up. I'm sure I had left it a bit open so that flying insect yesterday could get out.

Shrug.

But a scent met my nose, a scent of a variety of food dishes which some were uncommon to me. I walked down a further few steps before peering around the corner. There stood Sanzushi Taichi, my team-mate and classmate, along with my next door neighbour, who was striding around the kitchen with an apron on, preparing meals for the morning.

Wait a minute.

Meals?

Wait a minute.

Apron?!?!

Oh, this would be good blackmail- I mean picture. For memories. Taichi, in a pink apron! It suits his girlish charm which I unfortunately have been told to have, or did I just predict it? Yes, nobody seems to tell me. What are they afraid of? My plotting revenge or something? I got my camera from my jeans pocket, small and handy yet it holds so many memories...

-**Snap**-

I saw Tai's head immediately whiz around to catch me taking a picture of him looking so feminine and motherly. Oh, how God blessed me with beautiful, blackmailing- I mean Kodac picture moments. I saw to my pleasure the stunned face of Tai. I snapped another picture.

Before it turned to a clear 'what the hell' down to-----'waitta-minute-is-that-what-I-think-it-is' look, then down to ------- anger...?

Never in my life have I been in such a dangerous position.

-

Taiya was sitting opposite Fuji who was calmly eating his meal with his usual plastered on smile. Yumiko left to travel to some place again for a job or such. Fuji didn't explain too in-depth when Taiya asked him (after the chaos of chasing after Fuji and grabbing hold of his camera. But Fuji is a lot faster than she anticipated...)

So it was just her and him eating the breakfast she made. Taiya had trouble too – remembering how to cook Japanese foods were a little difficult, so most her dishes were Chinese foods she usually cooked.

"So...."

"....."

"How's the food?"

"Ah, yes, it's very nice. No wonder the girls at our school and in our class like you, the _bishounen_-"

-FLING-

"Tsk, tsk, Tai-kun-"

Taiya glared from the other end of the table, almost unconscious to her extremely, erm, _intimate _actions.

"It's dangerous to throw chopsticks around you know, Tai-k- okay, okay, I won't call you _-kun _again (except when I want to annoy you). Just calmly put down the spoon."

Fuji and Taiya continued eating in silence, and she glanced up to see his reaction. Tsk, as usual, it was just an eerie smile. _'Well, doesn't concern me too much- mmm, rice.' _

Fuji picked something up with his chopsticks, examining it. "What's this?" he asked, their cultural differences becoming evident. "I remember seeing this once...."

The violet-eyed girl smiled before picking one of the piece of meat he was staring at.

"That's just sweet and sour pork," she explained casually.

-silence-

"....Sorry, I can't differentiate between breakfast, lunch or dinner, only that dinner is larger," said Taiya.

"....Oh. I....see."

Several knocks were heard on the door, which stopped Taiya and Fuji from washing their dishes.

"I'll get it." they said in unison. They looked at each other before they both went for the door. After the door opened....

"Mum?"

"Ah, Taiy-"

"Ah! You're getting me mixed up with Taiya again hahaha, _kaa-san_!" Taiya forced a long laugh while shifting her eyes behind her dangerously at her mum, indicating the confused looking Fuji standing there. They had a telepathic communication in their heads.

_'MUM! FUJI IS RIGHT BEHIND ME!! REMEMBER, MY NAME IS TAICHI!!'_

_'But Taichi's in Australia-'_

_'We're just using the name, okays?! Please mum, I need to make it to the Nationals!'_

Aiki smiled gracefully, understanding the situation.

"Ah, good morning, Aiki-san." Fuji greeted, appearing next to Taiya. "You arrived earlier than expected; welcome back. Please, come inside."

"Oh, no no no, don't worry about that. Taichi can just quickly pack and we'll be right off."

"Oh, are you sure?"

"Ah, yes, of course we are!" Taiya quickled added in. "We're going to pick up Taiya up anyway from, uh, camp! So, tell your parents and your sister thanks for having me over and everything! See ya at school, Fuji!"

In a couple of minutes Taiya was already out the door with her bag and she gave a wave.

"Need anything and I'll be right next door!"

Fuji watched as she turned to follow her mum and ran after her (before her mum locked the door on her, that is).

-

**Simple Walk**

"**I'm bored**."

Taiya was bored.

Much too bored for the human mind to sustain.

It was killing her slowly and painfully! She ended up making a whole decorated jar of origami stars, and was planning on making another jar except she ran out of containers to hold them in. And yes, she liked being neat. Her white singlet with a light-blue lining embraced her torso as she laid there, moaning as though she was going to die, not just wanting to.

"**Moo....I'm a sheep....baa.....I'm a dog.....quack...I'm an elephant.....I'm so bored! What is there to do?!**"

She bolted upright in a sitting position as she glared at her lap. _'At least in China the guys were there to hang around. It's weird without them around.'_

Then she remembered.

"**Shoot! I forgot!**" she exclaimed before rushing to find a pen and paper.

**-**

"**Ah, finished. That's a briliant 4 page letter there; I'm proud of myself for that**." Taiya left a sheet of paper inside an envelope onto the desk before getting up and yawning.

_'Might as well go out for a walk. Maybe I should practice some tennis before the next matches. I can't let myself get out of shape, considering the amount of food I eat.'_

She told her her mother that she was going out for an hour or so.

"**Alright,** **but remember to come back and study**!"

"我知道，我知道... (I know, I know)," Taiya said resentfully, rolling her eyes. _'Crud, she found out. Aw man, and just when I thought I could have a break.'_

Putting on a thin grey and sleeveless hoodie, she tied her hair up into a neat ponytail, slung her tennis bag over her shoulder and headed out the door.

"I'm going now!"

After closing the door ("I don't need to lock it—mum's strong enough as it is to be able to take on 3 grown men," muttered Taiya), Taiya was shocked as she turned to the front. Fuji was standing at the end of his own drive and had just closed the gates. He was wearing casual clothes along with his usual trademark smile.

"Hello there, Taiya-san." Fuji greeted politely with a smile. Taiya had half-mind to turn and go back inside her house, but since she was brought up to have manners, she stood there with a weird facial expression. _'Why is it where ever I go, he is somehow there?'_

"Ah...good afternoon, Fuji...Fuji_-san_. What are you doing here?" she asked. Fuji smiled once again.

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"I'm just about to go on a walk...and maybe practice some tennis."

"Ah, I see...wait, isn't that your brother's tennis bag?" Fuji pointed out, causing Taiya to mentally slap herself on the forehead.

_'Talk about having a good eye for things.'_

"Ah, yes- my racquet is in his bag, actually. My mother didn't want me to bring so many bags- a tennis bag is big enough as it is." Taiya inwardly cursed. _'Fuji, why did you have to be smart and dense at the same time...?'_

"Ah, I see..." _'I should talk to Tai one day about his, erm, family.'_

"So...would you like to walk with me?" Fuji asked in a bright tone.

_'What is he planning, blackmail, analysis, torture or possible hindrance?' _thought Taiya darkly though she didn't show it in her facial expression. "Um....I'm probably going a different way and...." After a few minutes, yes, _minutes _trying to find a suitable excuse, she finally accepted her loss and sighed.

She gave up; if he tried anything to make her life miserable, she'd just have to give him an introduction to her fist. And if he tries to run, she'll chase him down; she may be low on stamina, but she was a fast sprinter.

But the Power Ankles are weighing her down. Then her eyes opened in shock.

_'THE POWER ANKLES!'_

"Excuse me for a tad!!"

At the speed of light, Taiya had entered before returning almost immediately without the ankle weights on. It was...so good. The feeling of having normal feet again were something to be marveled at. While Taiya was embracing freedom with her arms, Fuji just quirked an eyebrow.

_'Hmm...I guess some of Tai's weird facial expression thing rubbed off on her...maa, they ARE twins I guess...'_

"Um, Taiya-san?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you want to play tennis before?" The two of them had walked right past and Taiya sighed.

"Yes...but I thought maybe I shouldn't. Mother likes me to study," explained Taiya, her voice going rather bitter at the end. Then a ball went whizzing past in-between Fuji and Taiya's heads. They both turned around.

"Heh, you play tennis then, girly?"

Taiya turned around and saw some guy with blonde hair up to the base of his neck and stunning blue eyes while the other....was Karushi Sen?!

_'Girly? Why do I, of all people, get the most ridiculous names?' _

-Xing Hua. Meaning: star flower ("Please, don't remind me..." Taiya groans)

-Tai-chan

-Tai-kun

"Astounding! You have clearly identified my _brother's _tennis bag; congratulations!" she smiled sarcastically. Sen stared before opening his mouth in surprise, pointing at her subconsciously.

"Ah, are you related to Sanzushi Taichi by any chance?"

"You're looking at his sister, Karushi-san," Fuji chuckled while Taiya sweat-dropped. She bowed towards the purple-haired boy.

"I have heard about you, Karushi-san. You played my...my brother right, when it was the District?"

He gave a rather embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, but I lost. Your brother is really good....I lost amiably."

"You're very skilled too, so don't say that."

There was a short silence.

Taiya realized her small mistake. "I-I mean that to make it as the top two in the Districts regardless, you have to be very skilled, right?" she ushered, nodding as though to convince them greatly. "And my brother remarked on your skills too- Jagged Volley and such!"

"Ohh, I see, I see!"

Fuji on the other hand smiled serenely at the other taller tennis player, wearing long, baggy shorts and a long singlet, giving a fresh scent of sweat to their nostrils.

"You need deodorant. Fast," she said, cringing in slight disgust. _'Does he even wash himself? Even our locker room doesn't smell as bad as this.'_

Sen gave a laugh."You got dissed, Fushiki-senpai."

"May I ask why a tennis player like yourself is serving balls towards Taiya-sans' head?" Fuji had a rather cold impression underneath his smile, but his eyes remained closed. Sen smiled sheepishly.

"I apologize on Fushiki-senpai's behalf...I really don't know what he was doing...."

"We have nothing to do with you, just the girl," Fushiki stated. Sen sighed, shaking his head while Taiya smacked herself on the forehead in distress.

"Everything involves me, doesn't it? Cut me some slack here," she murmured.

"So, since you play tennis, how about a match with us?" Fushiki said with a smirk.

"Fushiki-senpai-!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, play a match with us. If we win, you have to go out with us," Fushiki said. Sen silently mouthed the words 'I'm not involved' and Taiya nodded.

"...who gave you the right to decide the rules, Mr. Fushiki?"

"It's funner like this, baby."

The wind gave a chilling sound as it blew past.

"**Okay. **_**What **_**did you just call me, you mentally challenged bas**-"

"Taiya-san would really rather go home, right, Taiya-san?" Fuji smiled at her the same way he did as when she had first met him. Then he looked at Fushiki with a very sinister smile.

Everyone in the vicinity who saw it shivered.

"Hmph, we're not gonna let you leave without a match, you know that right?" he stated arrogantly, regaining composure. Taiya was halfway from throwing her bag onto the ground to fight.

"**No police**—**very good luck today**—!"

"Saa, I guess there's no helping it. I'll play instead of Taiya-san." All eyes were on Fuji.

"Fuji...-san?"

"Who asked you?!" said Fushiki angrily.

"Well, you see, I don't really like it when guys pick on my friends _imouto-kun _(little sister)," he stated, opening his eyes to show a cold glint hidden deep inside. Taiya was in a small state of shock that she didn't notice everything was silent. She was touched by his kindness, even if it was just for a friend's younger sister, and thus she decided not to give him trouble. Instead, she'll give him some entertainment—Fushiki's defeat in 10 minutes flat.

"Ah, Fuji...Fuji-_san. _It's fine, I'll play him," said Taiya with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, taking a few steps forward towards Fushiki whose smirk had widened.

"You got guts, girl. I like that."

"I don't care what you like, hurry up and get your ass on the court," said Taiya taking out her racquet. Fuji stared at Taiya with his eyes still open, a small frown still worn on his face.

"Taiya-san, are you sure...?" _'I know Tai is pretty good, but I'm not entirely sure about his sister....girls tend to be considerably weaker...and this is against someone one year above our level.'_

"I'm fine, Fuji-san!" Taiya turned and gave a smile, making Fuji's stomach flutter irregularly. Did he eat a butterfly or something when he was sleeping? And how many of them did he eat if he did? "And thank you for offering. But I dug this hole myself, so I'll have to get out of it myself, neh?"

_'You reap what you sow.'_

She grinned.

A momentary silence took place in the surrounding. "In that case....I'd like to see Tai's sister bring down the oh-so-great Fushiki-san," Fuji commented, while standing at the sidelines with a sly and wide smile on, hand on his chin with his eyes closed in his usual mask-like smile once again. _'I'll step in if anything goes out of hand.'_

"I'll let you go first—take it as a handicap." Fushiki laughed. Taiya smiled calmly, making it look like Fuji's own smile.

"I don't like handicaps, but if you insist," said Taiya, catching the ball from Fuji who tossed her one. "But...this just adds to my advantages. Are you ready?"

"Sanzushi to serve."

-

"Well, I win. Too bad, I'm- I mean, my _bro_ is a Regular. What kind of sister would I be if I can't even meet his standards?" Taiya questioned as she prodded the shaking Fushiki with her tennis racquet, who was ill-tempered and shocked that he lost to a girl AND he lost a date. Sen was comforting his senpai while shaking in a fit of laughter. The game ended so quickly, AND during the game....

_-_

_"Let's make it more interesting. If I win, you'll have ta go on a date with me, and you'll do one thing I want you to do_—_in front of your boyfriend no less." _

_Fuji tensed. "Taiya-san, are you sure you can handle this_—_"_

_"He's not my boyfriend but I accept!" Taiya said, not noticing Fuji's worried face. "But, if I win, what do we get?"_

_"You can have take anything in my wallet."_

_"Alright, deal! Fuji-san, you up for some cash?!"_

_He sighed. Then he smiled, holding trust in her judgement. "_Saa_.....how should I say this....yes?"_

_-_

And the two of them left him penniless.

_'She's good,' _Fuji observed as they left, Taiya bidding farewell to Sen. _'Her movements are like Tai's own_—_I guess this is what they mean by twins, eh?But I'm sure she just used the _Kibou Henkan _before.....' _Fuji mused as he stared at Taiya with the slightest frown worn on his face, enrapt in his own thoughts. _'Kibou Henkan is Tai's own move....there __**is**__ a possibility he taught her...'_ He was unaware of the hand waving in front of his face, which was connected to Taiya's arm.

"Hello? Earth to Fuji _Syusuke-kun_!!" Taiya shouted for the umpteenth time. Fuji snapped out of his thoughts before quirking an eyebrow.

"Syusuke-kun?"

"Hehe, I thought that would work!" said Taiya triumphantly and she gave a victorious smile before slinging her bag over her shoulder. Fuji gave a slight shake of his head as he saw Taiya's retreating form. Suddenly she turned around making eye contact with his closed ones with a bright smile.

"C'mon, Fuji! Let's go!"

"_Hai_."

_'....Fuji....?'_

-

After the 'easy money' scheme, Fuji and Taiya ended up buying new grip tape and a serving of ice-cream each (a large portion might I add) in celebration for winning over that Fushiki guy. Fuji and Taiya split the money; Taiya said since Fuji helped her out when she was in 'trouble' (more like the other guy was in trouble) and thus insisted on it.

"You won it, Taiya-san. Keep it. I was only joking when I said yes. I thought it would be fun to mentally strain Fushiki-kun over there," Fuji admitted, pushing back her hand.

"You, Fuji...-san, helped me!! And you paid for the ice-cream!! Plus, what am I going to do with all of this anyway?! Man this guy sure is loaded...anyhow, buy yourself a new cactus or something!"

"I—hey...how did you know I liked cacti?" Fuji questioned with almost a slight hint of suspicion.

Taiya's face contorted to one of 'Oh-My-God-I-Am-A-Born-Retard-How-Is-He-So-Perceptive' look. "Eh, you know...you're Tai's friend and all..." She said, trying to sound like she, in fact, was trying to get him to understand.

"...Yes?"

"And...I saw it on your window sill," she finished.

"Ah, I see!" Fuji said, nodding understandingly as he spooned another scoop of ice-cream from his cup. But from a little further away....

"_Ne, ne_! Who do you think that is, Momo?"

"That person looks like Tai-senpai...AHHH! Don't tell me Fuji-senpai is dating Tai-senpai! Don't tell me my _senpai's_ are attracted to each other, and they're both GUYS!!"

"Hooray for gays!" shouted some random passer-by in the background. Momoshiro and Eiji sweat-dropped.

"Anyway, moving on—that is definitely a girl, Momo. See, all that long hair!"

"Oh yeah, you're right. Hahaha..."

"But she DOES look like Tai-chan, don't you think, nya?"

"No way...maybe that's Tai-senpai's sister that Fuji-senpai and Ryuzaki-sensei were talking about. Are you saying Fuji-senpai is dating Tai-senpai's sister?!"

"Unya! You're right! Sensei and Fuji _did _say he had a sister...A date....that's how it looks like from here anyway....I can tell why Fuji likes her! She's quite cuuuuute! Like Tai-chan, hee hee!"

"Isn't Tai considered 'handsome' since he's a guy, not 'cute'. I heard when guys are called 'cute', it's an insult."

"Shhh!" Eiji peered through the glass of the ice cream parlour, Hirosue, again observing with his sharp eyes the conversation between Fuji and 'Tai's Sister' Taiya with a smile on his face.

"Tsk tsk, I never thought of it, Fuji-senpai betraying Tai-senpai's friendship like that by dating his _sister _behind his back."

"Maybe Sanzushi-senpai already knows about it."

"Eh! Echizen! Where did you come from?!"

"Well it's kinda obvious you guys are spying on them."

"Wha—really?!"

Eiji and Momoshiro both shot up from the decorative bushes surrounding the store before hiding behind the brick wall.

-

Taiya glanced towards the window and she swore she saw something spiky black and something vibrant red flash past.

"Taiya-san?"

"Uh, sorry," she apologized. "I just thought I...." She glanced towards the window again uncertainly. _'Wasn't that Eiji and Momoshiro-kun?'_

"Ah, okay...." Fuji glanced at his watch. "Hmmm, it's getting late. Shall we go now?"

"Okays...."

**-**

(Another short Fuji point of view paragraph)

As Taiya-san sat up from her seat and cleaned off the table a bit, I shot the glass window a look, the exact same place where Taiya-san was staring at. Maybe she has a stalker or something. Who knows. She _is _a girl (a quite short and adorable 14 year old teenage girl mind you) who happens to be new and looks defenceless. _Looks_ (she's Tai's sister, anything could happen). But then I felt my mouth form into a smirk before I turned away.

Typical. Red hair, black hair, white cap.

Hmph.

**-**

"Hey, Fuji-san," Taiya suddenly spoke out, "Thanks."

"Hmmm...?"

"For inviting me for a walk, that is," she stated simply, holding her head up higher than usual with a small, lopsided smile. "I might have done something rash to that guy—forgot his name, not important enough—if you weren't there. Really, thank you."

"Oh don't worry, it's my pleasure, Taiya-san."

"Ah, well this is my stop now," Taiya gave a small salute. "See ya again, Fuji-_san_! By the way, I think I saw some of your fan-girls spying on us, so I might not make it alive to see you again!" she half-joked, walking away with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Fuji raised a thin eyebrow.

"What?"

"Come on, you know 'it's a fan-girl moment' stuff. It's freakish actually," Taiya mumbled. Then she said, "Well, it was nice talking to you today," before holding out a hand. Fuji stared at it before holding out his own hand and shaking it. Taiya shook firmly with an idiotic sort of smile on her face. She turned to leave.

"Aa. Good....evening, Taiya-san."

----

"Ah, mornin', Fuji."

Taiya paused and looked up from the book she was currently engrossed in, entitled "Chinese Cinderella". Fuji gave a curt wave, almost a little _too _aloft than usual. Taiya quirked an eyebrow. The teacher announced possible school notices in the morning, before Taiya poked him on the shoulder where Fuji was seated beside her. He turned.

"Yo, what's wrong?" she hissed in an undertone, leaning slightly across towards his table to talk to him. 2 months was enough to be able to distinguish—just slightly—on Fuji's conditions.

He leaned in slightly as well before replying, "Nothing. What makes you think there's something wrong, Tai-kun?"

"Don't try."

"Try what?"

"You tried to attach the _-kun _suffix at the end of my name to agitate me and thus drop the conversation," she whispered in an matter-of-fact tone. She saw Fuji straighten up in his chair again, and lifted herself slightly up again. "Anywhos, I can tell something's bothering you 'cause—"

"Sanzushi-kun, please pay attention!" the teacher scolded disapprovingly, an irritation vein on her forehead. Taiya cursed herself for being so careless before she sat upright in her seat again with a guilty smile.

"Sorry..."

"Hm...back on subject...the worldly affairs which occurred in 1948...."

**----**

[Another Fuji point of view moment]

I was sitting in class as usual, having Tai, Taiya-san's brother sitting next to me on a separate desk. He was an interesting fellow, he was. It was rather entertaining with him around. And Eiji is constantly attached to him when he's away from Oishi and Momoshiro.

_'Hmmm, today's weather is nice. Like yesterday with Taiya-san-...."_

I shook my head, ruffling my hazelnut-brown hair before I ran my fingers through it, taming it once again. I didn't know what was wrong with me. After I took that walk with Taiya-san, I've been thinking _a lot _lately about things.

Random things.

But it still surprised me when Taiya-san used _Kibou Henkan _in that match against that lame guy whose name is to be forgotten until it's important. That's another thing I'm confused about; why did I feel a momentary flare of protectiveness when Fushiki insisted on that last term; to do whatever he told her to if she had lost?

It must be brotherly protectiveness; she _is_ Tai's sister, and being his friend it's partly my duty to help her out in depressing situations.

That's all it can be.

"Yo, what's wrong?"

I heard a genuine hiss from beside me, and without looking, I instantly knew it was Tai. I mean, who else had such a mellow voice that sometimes sounds like Taiya-san's except much more masculine?

I leaned towards his table so that we were a few inches apart—a good distance to talk from. I was surprised he even noticed me thinking. Actually, _did I _look troubled or something?

"Nothing, what makes you think there's something wrong, Tai-_kun_?" I emphasised the -kun prefix at the end. I don't know why I did, but I did it before I could stop it. I saw the transfer student smirk.

"Don't try."

Now I was more confused. "Try what?"

"You tried to attach the _-kun_ prefix at the end of my name to agitate me and thus drop the conversation," he replied in an matter-of-fact tone, having an air of superiority hanging around him. I felt my eyebrows raise up a few millimeters. It felt like Tai saw through _me_! Wait, isn't my mask perfect? Normal people shouldn't notice stuff like this.

He's not normal, this new friend of mine.

But then again, nor was Eiji, who did unbelievable acrobatic things from....well, everywhere.

I heard Tai's voice continue his 'point' again. Oh no, better listen. Wait—I think the teacher can hear us! Okay, straighten up, and try and warn Tai via facial expressions. Damn; the bad thing about having too much of a one-expression face.

"Anywhos, I can tell something's bothering you 'cause—"

Then I had the pleasure of seeing Tai being scolded by the teacher. Yes, it was cruel, and I _did _try to warn him.

But then again, either way, if he got caught or not, I was satisfied with both the results.

----

Taiya thanked the school bell mentally for freeing her from Japanese History class, before waiting for the next few classes. In such a short period of time, they already won the Districts and were now preparing for the next match. It has been almost 2 months through the school year—although she had met Fuji a little earlier than that. Competitions started early here, that's for sure.

And on the coming Friday (making up a day like usual), the matches start.

And also in a short period of time, it was already lunch.

"Nya! Let's go eat lunch together!" Eiji chirped before bouncing over with his own lunch to a table where they all seated themselves comfortably. Taiya took out her home-made bentou and prayed for a short period of time before opening her eyes and consuming the variety of foods inside. Eiji peered over.

"Chinese?" he asked in plain curiosity, giving a few cute blinks. She stopped herself from poking his cheeks with her chopsticks.

"Mmhm."

She swallowed a Chinese dumpling.

"As you know, I'm half Chinese and lived in China most my life—it's natural for me to eat it," she said simply before continuing eating. Eiji suddenly shot up, remembering something. He stared at his two good friends chatting about Chinese lifestyle and such before he's imaginative mind sprung up.

_'I remember! Fuji was dating Tai's sister behind his back....but O'chibi said maybe Tai approved already....' _Eiji shot them a quick glance, hand on his chin as he rubbed it thoughtfully, face creasing into a frown. _'But...it doesn't look like Tai knows anything about it...it's settled! At after-school practice, I'll speak to Momoshiro about it!'_

**-**

Taiya gave a queer look as Inui increased the amount of weights on her feet from 5kg, to 5.5kg. Nobody in their right mind would wear such things EVEN for training. She was unlucky.

"Inui....when I lift my foot...it feels like my ankle is going to break apart from my leg."

"Well, 70 percent of you would have gotten used to the 5kg ones already, so it's good for a quick change." he explained. Taiya turned her head robot-style towards Inui, mouth in a forced painful grin.

"The other 30 percent tells me to amputate my legs....I don't know if I should or not..."

"Tai!"

"Joking, Ryuzaki-sensei," Taiya said quickly—though resentfully—while Ryuzaki-sensei's frown deepened. Eiji, however, took his chance and grabbed Momoshiro, pulling him a fair distance from the others.

"Eh, Eiji-senpai, not so rough—"

"Shhh! You remember what happened two days ago right, at _Hirosue _(the Ice cream parlour) right?"

"Uh...yeah, we went in and got a double chocolate and strawberry parfait—"

"No! With Sushi 2!!"

"...Sushi 2?"

"Code-name for Tai's sister, since their last name has Zushi. Neh, so what do you think? Do you think Sushi 1 knows?"

"Sushi 1....?"

"Use your head, Momo! Tai-chan!"

"Eh, I don't know... Tai-senpai doesn't look too concerned..."

"Exactly! Maybe...Fuji really IS dating his sister behind his back!"

Momoshiro gasped. "Betrayal of trust!"

"Betrayal of friendship!"

"I get it now!"

"Exactly!"

"What are you guys doing?"

"Ah! Echizen/O'chibi!"

"Are you guys spying on Sanzushi-senpai now?"

"It's not spying! It's—"

"Collecting data."

"Ah, Inui-senpai/Inui!"

He gave a low, evil laugh. "So that's the situation. I'm sure it's not that bad..."

"No! Dating someones younger sister _behind their back _is betrayal of friendship!!" Momoshiro exclaimed so loudly, it caused both Fuji and Taiya to turn and stare in their direction, seeing the four-some all knitted in a close conversation.

"What are you guys doing over there?" Taiya called over, cupping her mouth with her hands.

"Oh, _nothing_!!" they all chorused back. Eiji looked determined.

"Hoi, okays, if anything happens between Tai's sister and Fuji again, we shall—"

"Collect data."

"Err, yes, that too. We shall—"

"Stalk."

"No, O'chibi, not stalk, _observe_!" Eiji said brightly. "Depending on what we find out, we could either lecture Fuji about friendship, or support him from the sidelines!"

"I'm in!" Momoshiro shouted enthusiastically, causing Taiya and Fuji to stare once again, raising their eyebrows. Taiya jabbed a finger in their direction.

"Do you know what he means?" she asked, not really expecting an answer as she smirked. Fuji let a small smile creep onto his face.

"I might just have a glimpse on what they're talking about." he replied slyly. She spun around, eyes wide.

"_Yeesss_! And what might that be?" she said with a canny smile.

"Oh, never mind. Nothing really important. Don't worry, it doesn't really....concern you....." Fuji drawled out while walking towards the group of four. Inui's glasses glinted and Ryoma saw through his gold-brown eyes at the approaching danger. He lowered his cap while walking speedily in another direction.

"I gotta go."

"I need to collect data."

"Hey, you guys—o-ooooh! Fuji-senpai!" Momoshiro said nervously, retreating backwards from Fuji's sinister smile.

"What are you guys talking about, Momo, Eiji?" he asked with a fake smile on, as though to say I-Got-You-Cornered-Now. Eiji gulped, and replied in a stuttering voice.

"H-hoi, nothing really i-important, F-Fuji! We...were....talking about—"

"Sunday!" Momoshiro cried out, thinking it was a good cover up. Fuji's smile grew wider.

"You mean the same Sunday where I saw you guys outside Hirosue, spying on Taiya-san and me?" Fuji said, now having a large, triumphant smile on his face, staring at the cowering Eiji and Momoshiro with opened eyes.

"....De...."

"De?"

"D...d....de-to?" (De-to: Date) Momoshiro croaked out with a forced laugh. Fuji let out a few of his malicious-sounding chuckles.

"I'm sure I can convince Inui to let you have a...a _sip _of his new Delux Newly Improved Inui Juice. I can convince you guys to take it too—"

"YOU'LL NEVER CONVINCE US!!" they both declared in unison.

Fuji didn't look troubled by their response, and instead took out two pictures, holding one in each hand before showing it to the two younger team-mates separately. Fuji gave a triumphant smirk again.

"Oh...? Then what happens if I show _these _around to some people?" Momoshiro and Eiji stared in slight horror before gulping, wondering which decision to take. A few bland seconds and...

"TAI/TAI-SENPAI!! _TASUKETTTTTTEEEEEEEEE!! (save us)!_"

----

**Old A/N** – **I **think I just made this for the fun of it too.

Thanks to G. Rei Lam, merissala and a lot of other peoples. Laters

**New A/N as of December 27th 2007** – (I am making up the time line for the story, seeing as there isn't much noticable evidence of the actual specific times in the anime).


	9. The Abnormalness of the Chinese

**Appeared! Inui's Juice Deluxe! - (Ep 23)**

Taiya was still confused to why she saw Eiji and Momo rushing over towards the taps before collapsing to the ground, motionless. She questioned Fuji about it, but he just smiled and shook his head.

"They just got some....punishment," he mused, smiling at the forms on the ground get carried away to the benches to rest. Taiya sweat-dropped.

"Ehh...."

Eiji and Momo woke several minutes later after having water splashed onto their faces.

"Okay! Regulars, gather 'round now," commanded Tezuka acrossthe courts.

His arms were folded and his face was as serious as ever. The usual Tezuka-buchou look.

"There are 9 days before the Prefectural/Provincial tournaments begin. From today on, the Regulars will practice with a special training menu," he said. "A rally match with limitations to where the ball can land. It's known as Zone Practice."

"Eh? Sounds interesting!" Eiji exclaimed, while Taiya agreed, slapping him a low five without the both of them taking their eyes off the Captain.

Inui walked up in front of the white board on the tennis court. "The differences between the Regulars' play styles are as follows:"

"_Counter Puncher_, who stay at the baseline and waits for opponent's misses with stable strokes. Kaidoh, Fuji, Oishi."

"_Agressive Baseliner_, who also stay at the back line but fiercely attacks. Kawamura, Momoshiro."

"_Serve and Volley_, who has talents in both speed and reflexes centered on net play. Kikumaru."

"And Tezuka and Echizen are _All-Rounders_, who use different techniques in order to maximize their overall strength." Inui finished, tapping the board with a fine rod. This information was taken into each of the Regular's with extra thought and consideration.

"W-wait a minute. Then, what am I?" Taiya asked, putting her hand up. Inui looked thoughtful for a while, placing his hand on his chin.

"Hmm, technically I guess you would be labeled as a Serve and Volley player since you and Kikumaru have similar playing characteristics, with your speed and footwork. But at the same time you have displayed some skills in the criteria of a Counter Puncher seeing as you are analyzing opponents you've never played before...you're not particularly aggressive on court (note the 'on court'), so you are definitely not an All Rounder," Inui said slowly, flipping through pages of his green data book.

Everyone waited in baited silence to hear what Taiya was. Inui thumped his fist into his palm lightly, coming to a conclusion- the first which didn't consist of many calculations.

"You're abnormal."

Taiya fell onto the ground anime style before shooting back up, wailing, "Ehhh?! What do you mean? Are you saying I can't fit into those categories?" while Fuji, Eiji, Momoshiro and even Oishi laughed hysterically, and Echizen smirked ruefully at his _senpai_.

Inui pushed up his glasses.

"That's not particularly it, but your play style varies against the opponents you face off, for example against Arai, you played it cool and calm, attacking only when you spot the chance. This means that you weren't too troubled. Whenever you are troubled, it makes it a lot harder for you to think calmly about the situation. Fuji and Oishi specialize in staying calm in all situations."

"....Right....?" Taiya stretched out her words, waiting to hear the rest of his explanation. _'Do I serious play like that? I don't even notice this.'_

"Against Momoshiro or power-players, you tend to try and use your speed to your advantage, as your power isn't very high. In a slight way you _are _a Counter Puncher that considers every opportunity to gain a point, but you use your footwork, like acrobatics to Kikumaru, to help you. But unlike Kikumaru, you don't stay near the net, only when you're coming in for a smash because you are short in height."

"Thanks for mentioning that," Taiya drawled sarcastically.

"You are an odd-"

"I get it, I get it! I'm weird and abnormal! I'm a messed up tennis player! I've heard that a few times from...other people before," said Taiya, throwing her hands into the air, annoyed.

Cheeks flushed and jaw clenched, she decided she didn't care about this particular topic any more.

Inui, once again, went into a lapse of thinking. "Your specialities in playing tennis are using your various abilities/strengths to your advantage, much more so than others," Inui stated. "You don't aim for one sort of playing style." Taiya gave a small and twisted smile on those unique features making up her face; just when she thought they would stop.

"What do you mean, Inui?" Taka-san asked, racquet, thankfully, nowhere in sight- yet. The other Regulars were now listening in about their newer team-mate.

"I mean that Sanzushi here has different personalities and playing styles to choose from when facing off opponents," he said robotically. "There's a....."

"Collected and Tactical style. Attacking and returning with stable strokes while analyzing the situation; a playing style that matches Oishi and Fuji's expertised area."

"Counter style. A style which lets you try counter and return as much shots as you can with your reflexes and speed until you can figure out how to take the game or attack- a style which isn't too good for someone like Sanzushi since he's got low stamina."

"And then there's just Adaption. This is when you try to force your body and mind to adapt to the situation and spot out the advantages the opponent has before finding a suitable technique to counter it, or seal it to give you the upper-hand. Sanzushi, you specialize in adapting to different situations more so than others, and that is why you don't have a particular play style."

"Oh, I see. I never noticed that," Taiya said truthfully, blowing a few silky strands of her from her eyes.

"Wait, he's also got the occasional 'I-Don't-Care-What-The-Hell-I'm-Doing-But-I'll-Win-Anyway-By-Playing-However-I-Want' playing style," Fuji smiled innocently as he spoke out his thoughts, making Taiya shoot him a particularly nasty glare. "That is when Tai-kun loses his mind and passiveness and goes on a rampage similar to a mountain boar."

"OOOOH! I saw that style before!" Momoshiro exclaimed, eyes wide with realization, totally oblivious to the fuming Taiya behind him. "It was only, like, a few days ago!"

"Oh, I think I remember it too!"

"BURNING! I REMEMBER IT!! TAICHI-CHAN WAS LIKE KING KONG! GREATO!!"

"Yeah! And that other incident where-"

**"CAN YOU GUYS STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE SOME WEIRD, EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL FREAK!!"**

Inui coughed lightly into his hand, while Tezuka waited patiently for all peace to return. "Anyhow, so Sanzushi can't fit into one category, or All-Rounder, because of that reasoning."

Taiya sighed, slumping down exhaustedly, staring disbelievingly up at Inui.

"This sucks," she finally muttered bitterly, while Fuji and Eiji patted her shoulder in a comforting way. "Inui, please just continue with today's training schedule; I don't want to talk about my 'abnormalness' no more."

Inui nodded. "This time, Counter Puncher and Serve and Volley, these are Oishi, Fuji, Kaidoh and Kikumaru. They will guard the entire side of their court. Aggressive Baseliner and All-rounder- Kawamura, Momoshiro, Echizen and Tezuka- they will attack with only half of theirs. A 5-rally match."

_'Then what am I to do? Damn, I made this whole team a lot harder to work in.' _Taiya thought unhappily, staring up at the board with a disgruntled expression.

Inui tapped the diagram of a tennis court on the board. 3/4 of the court was shaded in with the whiteboard marker. "Players on defence must return to the shaded part only. If you hit outside the shaded part, you lose. As for the attacking players, you will lose if you cannot score a point during the 5-rallies."

Echizen walked up closer with a smirk, his face tilted downwards. "So, all in all, us attackers just need to finish it within 5-rallies, right?" he said in a cocky manner.

"Correct."

Oishi put up a finger knowingly. "On the other hand, the defenders win if they don't lose a point in five rallies, right?"

"Yes!" Inui's glasses suddenly had that familiar white glean shining off them. "On top of that," he held up a glass filled with a sicky, moss-green-coloured substance, letting everyone on the premises see. "If you lose, please drink Inui's Special Vegetable Juice."

His words immediately were taken to affect and were converted into information- information that should be forbidden. Eiji and Kaidoh had blue lines running down their faces as the reminisced about the last time they drank that....thing. Tezuka crossed his arms.

"Okay! Start practicing now!"

Everyone obeyed, but Taiya held back. She prodded the taller boy Manager on the arm. "Um, Inui....which one am I, the attacker or defender?" she asked while in a state of confusion. Inui grinned evilly, making her sweat drop.

"Because of all the trouble you put us into because of your abnormal play, you shall have two matches, one as defender and one as attacker."

"YOU'RE KIDDING!"

-

First up was Taka-san and Kaidoh's match. Inui served the ball so it wouldn't be unfair for either side. Already at the start, Kaidoh used his infamous Snake move while Taka-san was in his Burning Mode. The rest of the Regulars sat on the side lines. Taka-san won when Kaidoh hit the ball out of the half way mark on Taka-san's side of the court.

While Taka-san shouted out weird phrases like "delicious!", "great!", and "victory!", Taiya suddenly pulled a face. Fuji turned to her.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I pity him, that's all," she said as she watched Inui walk up behind Kaidoh and handed him a glass of that Juice. Tezuka called out the next match.

"Next! Full court, Oishi, Half-court, Momoshiro." Momoshiro smiled at his Vice captain.

"Hello! Please take it easy on me!"

"Same here," Oishi smiled. Suddenly both their eyes widened and their eyebrows raised up when they heard a cry of anguish, pain and much more. Everyone turned to see Kaidoh sprinting towards the door to reach the taps before his steps faltered and he slowed down, hand reaching out towards the door as though it was 'The Light' before he collapsed, unconscious, onto the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"What exactly did he drink?"

"Kaidoh-senpai!"

Fear arised in ever one of the Regulars except for Fuji, who continued to smile as pleasantly as though he had just conquered world poverty with time to spare. Oishi and Momoshiro's eyes narrowed, the same thoughts running through their head, their previous, friendly greeting being erased from mind.

_'I can't...I can't afford to lose!'_

Oishi and Momo started off well, with Momo placing all his power into his shots. Then he performed his well-known Dunk Smash. Oishi tried to return it, but his racquet was knocked cleanly from his hands.

Oishi smiled as he went to pick up his fallen racquet....but his eyes flew open at the sense of danger behind him.

Taiya, Eiji, Fuji, Momo, and to cut it short, EVERYONE turned to the sound of a horrible, blood-curling shriek let out by none other that Oishi, victim of...the juice. He ran, still yelling in what appeared to be pain, crashing into the cooler and other things before he fell onto the ground, twitching. Fuji was first to say anything.

"Oishi!"

"Oishi!!" Eiji cried. "Hang in there!"

Momoshiro stood there, scratching the side of his head with one finger. "Ehh! That was close, that was close! Good thing I didn't have to drink that!"

"If I were to become a victim due to another person...I really don't know if I can forgive them," muttered Taiya with a sweat-drop and Momoshiro nodded solemnly from beside her.

"Agreed."

Fuji and Tezuka's match ended incredibly quickly, with Tezuka doing his zero-shiki drop. The ball slowly crawled towards the net and Fuji remained smiling despite his loss.

"As expected of Tezuka-buchou, even though his opponent was Fuji-senpai," Momo breathed out as Taiya nodded in agreement. Fuji's eyes were open, and he had a sly smile on his face.

"Just now, you played seriously, didn't you?"

"Of course," Tezuka replied.

"What a shame! It'd have been funny if _buchou_ had to drink that!" Momoshiro whispered to Echizen. Just then, Tezuka's head turned to the duo and Momoshiro immediately stopped talking. Fuji made his way towards Inui, while Eiji and Taiya were leaning against the lower border of the tennis court fences, arms resting on their raised knees.

"Didn't you give up quickly, Fuji?" Eiji said with a smile.

"He probably looks forward to drinking that thing again," Taiya answered airily for Fuji. Fuji's smile got wider.

"Yeah."

"What did I tell you, Eiji?"

Inui held a clear glass with one hand as he tipped the bottle supposedly containing the vile drink near the mouth of the glass. To his surprise, only clear, smooth water emptied itself into the cup. Inui let out a small grunt of surprise, and he turned to check the label of the drink bottle:

TEZUKA

"It says 'Tezuka," Fuji said from a little further away. Fuji, Inui, and Taiya, who had overheard, all turned to the direction of Seigaku's captain. Shock immediately befalled Taiya's face as they saw from the distance Tezuka drinking from the bottle labeled 'INUI'.

Everyone waited in anticipation of the reaction. A choke? Maybe even a never-heard-before scream? A cry of disgust?

Unconsciousness?

Everyone, Momoshiro in particular, made gagging noises. Tezuka finished his long drought with a sigh, and he turned to the eager group. "What are you staring at? Hurry and start the next match!"

Eiji put his hands on his hips, bedazzled. "What the?"

"Unexpectedly, he seems okay..."

"He must have some tough nerves I guess..."

Nobody noticed Tezuka's shaking hand. Inui's eyebrow was twitching. Before they knew it, he had pulled out a glass of opaque but murky brown-green coloured....juice? from no where, showing it to Momoshiro and Taka-san.

"I finished this the other day. With special ingredients," Inui said in a dramatic, wavery tone. "This is Golden Power Remix Inui Juice."

_'Aaaaah~! Somebody just played a melody of death~!' _smiled Taiya to herself. Fuji and Eiji both knew what that meant; she, who hadn't played her first game yet, had a 50/50 chance of drinking that thing.

"That smile is so pitiful," pouted Eiji at the still-dazed Taiya. "He looks like he's given up on life! Fujiko~! Do something!"

Fuji only let out a disappointed sound. "Lucky him."

Then it was Echizen and Eiji's match, and Eiji looked serious as he twirled his racquet expertly around his wrist.

"I'm never going to drink that, that juice!" he declared confidently. Echizen smirked and their game began. Then Taiya realized something.

"Heh, if Eiji is playing Echizen, and you, Fuji, played Tezuka...Oishi played Momo, Kaidoh went against Taka-san....then who the Heck am I playing against?!" Taiya exclaimed. She gripped the side of her head, shaking it. "Goddammit!!!!!!"

"Calm down, Tai," Fuji said, trying to ease the frustrated Taiya. "I'm sure Inui or _sensei_ has got an idea of who you're to face."

Soon enough, Echizen couldn't end up getting a point to pass Eiji's acrobatic play and lost. Funny how 'lost' doesn't seem as crucial of a thing until Inui Juice pops up. A load groan was heard after Echizen consumed the vile concoction. Then Inui turned to Taiya, who jumped back in shock.

"What?"

"It's your turn."

"Who am I to go against?" Taiya asked, getting her racquet ready. Inui smiled.

"Me." Taiya's eye twitched.

"Going against you is basically asking me to drink that drink with sugar on top," Taiya remarked weakly. Inui walked onto the court.

"You're on the attack now, so you can use only half your court. But..." Inui pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose smugly. "There's a 98 percent chance that you will lose this round."

"Well....I'll try my hardest to prove your data wrong," the girl smiled. Ryuzaki-sensei served the ball and Inui slammed the ball towards Taiya. Taiya used a two-handed backhand to return the ball and Inui smirked.

"78 percent you were going to hit to the left," he said, returning the ball. "1 rally."

Taiya grumbled as she headed closer to the front, hitting the ball back towards Inui. Inui had no trouble in returning it. "98 percent chance you were going to hit it to the top-right corner! 2!"

Taiya cursed. Attacking wasn't her strong point, nor was power. She attempted a smash after she out ran Inui to the far left side of her own court, with Inui on the far left side of _his _own court. She aimed downwards with her racquet.

"C'mon!!"

_'3' _Taiya's eyes shined. "Is this...a chance?!" She attempted to slice the ball downwards, but Inui being Inui, returned it flawlessly with a fluent movement.

"4!"

"C'mon, Taichi!! One more shot!!" Eiji yelled through his cupped hands.

Ryuzaki-sensei smiled. "His speed has increased due to those weights. And come to think of it....." She then laughed. "He's still got them on! He should have taken them off if he wanted a higher chance of not drinking that Juice. It's his fault for forgetting."

Momoshiro laughed. "Good luck, Tai-senpai!"

-

"Damn you, Data Man," Taiya breathed out. She had lost amiably, leaving herself panting on the ground since she had tried running a lot, but out-running Inui was expectedly hard since he was so tall compared to her- the amount of land he can cover with one stride was probably more than two of Taiya's own.

Inui approached the girl, only to see her shaking violently. "Hmm? What's wrong, Sanzushi?"

"You're actually asking..." said Taiya in disbelief. "I really....won't drink that drink!"

"Drink it, Sanzushi Taichi. It's the rules," Ryuzaki-sensei said sternly.

Everyone watched her down it as fast as possible. Not soon after, she fell to the ground almost lifelessly.

Just when she thought she was going to pass out, Ryuzaki-sensei's voice reached her ears.

"Tai, now it's your turn to defend."

"I c-can't...." she moaned from the ground. Feeling strange nauseous, she found herself swaying as she tried to steady herself, holding her hand to her forehead while slowly making her way to the court.

"Tai-chan, hang in there! Hang in there!" Eiji encouraged. Miraculously, like the story of Jesus healing a mans legs, she walked once again.

"You'll be having the rally match against me." Taiya stared at Ryuzaki-sensei with eyes as round as coins.

"....You're kidding me, right?"

Taiya first held up a hand, halting the process. Everyone watched in silence as she headed towards the entrance/exit of the gate, walked out and endulged herself on the water from the taps where the bodies of Kaidoh, Oishi and Echizen hung around. Fuji smiled.

"It's natural for the weak to do this."

Echizen and Kaidoh shot him dirty looks from the ground, their faces resembling hate. _'Weak?!'_

"I'm....r-hic-ready," she implide in a very unconvincing tone since she had a dull flush forming over the bridge of her nose and a bad case of irrelevant hiccoughs.

Everyone watched as Taiya guarded the court defensively like a dog guarding its territory, returning the ball as sharp as she could towards the half court with a serious expression on her face, no smile visible. Momoshiro sniggered into his hand.

"Tai-senpai seriously doesn't want to drink that Juice again," he laughed.

"He's incredibly unlucky, having to do it twice," remarked Oishi as he wiped his mouth on his arm. "That stuff is disgusting."

Ryuzaki-sensei flawlessly returned it with impressive power for someone at her age, and she yelled with each hit rather viciously.

"Hyaaahhh!"

"GOD-hic-DAMMIT!!Taiya gave a two-handed backhand, her aggressive shout almost sounding off her feminine voice. _'2 rallies already!'_

"Tai-senpai is pretty good at going on the defensive," commented Momoshiro fairly. Inui paused his note taking and looked up, watching the very short rally contest with a passive face.

"Tai doesn't have much of a reason to attack, so he's focusing on his counter-attacking style," Inui informed the surrounding. "As I mentioned before, Tai doesn't have a play style he's fully comfortable with, and instead focuses on adaption; Tai's ability to adapt is higher than the average person." Then he quickly scribbled one last note before saying, "He was always better at the defensive anyway."

_'3 rallies.'_

"_Aa_, Tai doesn't only just adapt in tennis too; he's adapting to the lifestyle of Japan pretty well too," said Fuji from beside Momoshiro while Eiji nodded vigorously.

"Now that I think about it, his Japanese is getting really good now," Momoshiro said fairly. "Before it was very...broken."

Eiji nodded furiously. "And he's still good at maths, which is good because he helps me with homework a lot!"

"Eiji-senpai, is any of that relevant to Tai-senpai's play style?"

_'4! I better not lose again!'_

Sumire hit a tricky shot near the corner, and Taiya's eyes widened in realization; she left the left side of her court unguarded! _'Dammit, why can't I run faster?!'_

Taiya jumped while she felt her LEFT hand swing her racquet in a forehand, hitting the ball back over the net. She felt her shoulder impact upon the ground painfully before she rolled, using her right arm to support her.

"Hey, Sanzushi-senpai, you alright?"

"That looked painful, especially for someone as small and fragile as him."

"He's like a princess who needs help from her knight," some people sniggered. Taiya reminded herself to deal with them after school.

Fuji turned and saw Taiya happily jump up, pumping her fist in the air in victory.

"I-hic- don't have to-hic drink that th -hic- ing!! I'm the-hic- happiest -hic- person -hic a-hic- live!! AHAHAHAHA-hic- HAHAHAHA!!!"

"I must admit, you are a good defence player," remarked Ryuzaki-sensei, making Taiya beam. "But your attacking is weak."

Taiya fell over from shock, before hurrying back up, fists clenched in front of her. "I'll-hic- work hard-hic- er then!"

Meanwhile, Fuji walked up to their coach and tapped her on the shoulder with a single, slender finger. She turned around and blinked; poor old lady

"Hmm? What's wrong, Fuji?"

Fuji's smile, if possible, just got wider. "Sumire-chan (1), it's the rules....right?"

The Seigaku coach raised an eyebrow. "What are you talk-"

Inui appeared out of thin air from behind her holding a cup of Golden Remix Inui Deluxe or whatever, and instantly everyone saw her freeze. She forced a laugh, and the Regulars that were still alive- I mean, the Regulars that weren't victims slowly gathered around like ants to something particularly interesting, and Taiya crossed her arms and gave a small smirk. _'Pay back time.'_

Ryuzaki-sensei went into a babbling shot of why she shouldn't have to drink the juice, hastily trying to keep her stern composure. By this time, Taiya's smirk had grown a little wider

"Oh. Ryu-hic- zaki-sensei," Taiya said loudly while thumping her chest hard to try stop the flow of interrupting and irksome hiccups. "Didn't you-hic-say your-hic-self that-hic- was th-hic- GODDAM-hic- MIT!!!!" Taiya raged at the annoying hiccups that came out of the blue, throwing a small tantrum as Fuji kindly explained to their coach for her.

"Just like for Tai, it's the rules, right, sensei?"

His face resembled a fox that had out-witted something, a sly and smooth smile growing on his face.

"So you _have _to drink it, sensei! Or it's not fair....right?" Fuji pressed on in a more mock childish gesture. The old coach gulped, feeling stares all around her before she gave in.

"Alright, I'll drink it. It's the rules, like Fuji _kindly _reminded me," she said, holding the glass in her hands.

And she slowly lifted the glass near her mouth.....

-

"Ahahahaha! That was hilarious!"

Taiya still erupted into a fit of chuckles at the thought of their coach downing the forbidden death juice. "The first time she actually drank it!"

"Hoi hoi! It was scary! Scary, scary~!" Eiji exclaimed, his big, blue eyes quivering in fear at the mere memory of the incident. Fuji gave a soft and gentle laugh as he focused his attention ahead again.

"Mm, _sensei's _shriek was quite out-of-the-ordinary, wasn't it?"

Fuji invited Taiya and Eiji into his house, since they were to work on a class assignment together in which they had almost finished, seeing as Taiya had forced them during recess to complete it; China's habits have molded her into this way.

"Ah! We've finished!" Eiji said in relief, throwing down his pen exhaustedly. Taiya followed suit while Fuji went and got some cold drinks.

"Thank you for the drinks!" the two chorused.

"Ah, I can't believe the tournament is in 9 days!" Eiji said, stirring up a conversation. Trust Eiji to do that when it's all silent. Fuji nodded, removing the cup from his lips as he agreed.

"Mm, so then this would be the second tournament Tai will be participating in, eh?" Fuji remarked, earning a vigorous nod from Taiya. Then Eiji and Fuji peered closer at their new friend, who was trembling.

"Tai-?"

"Yeah it's going to be really good I'm sure we'll win," she said at the speed of light. Eiji and Fuji stared at each other, eyebrows raised while Fuji placed a hand on the half-Japanese half-Chinese 'boys' shoulder.

"You alright, Tai? You seem a little...different," he commented worriedly. Taiya glanced him, an incredulous look, flailing her hands wildly.

"Eh what are you talking about I'm normal you're over thinking too much Fuji!" she jabbered. She stood up eruptedly before excusing herself.

"Sorry, need to go to the bathroom."

And they watched as she left without a word. A moment of silence fell over the two best friends before Eiji muttered out, "How could he talk so fast?"

-

"Taiya-chan?" Taiya turned and saw Yumiko smiling down at her, wearing casual clothes that still seemed to look remarkable on her. "Before you go, I'd like to comment on something based on my tarot reading," she admitted while gently pulling Taiya's hand to lead her into her room. "I'm not quite sure, so please sit here with me for a while."

"Uh, sure, Yumiko-san."

Taiya found herself in the same position, Yumiko doing her strange things of tarot reading with cards and other objects. Soon, Yumiko looked up and gave a small smile.

"I guess I was correct. Come here, Taiya-san," Yumiko gestured for Taiya to lean in for her to whisper. "I'll tell you like this just in case someone else hears; it's not good when other people other than the reader know your fate."

Taiya sweat-dropped. _'That sounds nice. I feel awfully reassured now.' _"Okay..."

-

"What took you so long?" Eiji asked, pouting. Apparently Fuji and him were already playing cards by now. Taiya gave a sly smile, nodding her head once.

"Yeah, I think I should go now. We've already finished the project and everything, so..." She trailed off awkwardly before packing her possessions back into her bag. "Plus I have to study- my mum'll kill me if I stopped. See ya later guys!"

She had left the Fuji residence and immediately went to her room. Throwing off her beanie, she sighed, "I wonder what Yumiko-san meant....." _'Truth will unravel and hardships shall rise. You do not have a pleasant event coming up, Taiya-chan...'_

Taiya sat up again, arms resting limply on the soft bed sheets. Yumiko's voice rang in her ears, repeating itself, yet Taiya still couldn't make up the whole truth of the meaning. Does it mean that she shouldn't participate in the tournament because something'll happen? Taiya pondered about this for a while, before flopping herself back down onto her soft pillows again, closing her eyes and readying herself for sleep.

"Nah, not possible."

----

**Corrected in May, 2009.**

(1): Sumire-chan was once a pet name Fuji used for Ryuzaki-sensei, which earned him a scolding. ^^

Special thanks to: merissala, mesmart, and G. Rei Lam (and anyone else I missed) for helping me. Life savers you guys are, without you guys, this story would be pretty side-tracked and worst than it probably is now, which isn't good heh -.-''.

Laters. Until next time, maybe.


	10. St Rudolph Gakuen

Chapter 10. Edited on the 28th December 2007.

-

The reached the Tokyo Prefecture Matches Meeting Place, but they all noticed their little freshmen genius player was missing. Eiji scanned around with his sharp eyesight.

"Ne, _O'chibi'_s late."

Everyone were near the surrounding fencing of the tennis courts, staring inside. But Taiya felt someone staring at them and turned to get a glimpse of a brown-haired boy, presumably glaring at Fuji's back with determination. A feeling of curiosity washed over her.

_'Does he know Fuji...? This is interesting....the tennis genius has enemies...'_

-

"He's late. What is that Ryoma doing?"

All of the Regulars stood in baited silence as their coach checked her watch.

"If we don't assemble with 9 people by 10am...we'll be disqualified," Fuji said in his soft voice, looking strangely grave. Taiya was silent. Taka-san let out a stuttery gasp.

"Tha...that'll be bad."

"This sucks," Momoshiro sighed.

"What about Oishi?" Tezuka asked the group. "Did he manage to contact Echizen?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Eiji reported with a small frown, next to the open-eyed Fuji and serious-looking Taiya.

"That guy, he just had to choose today to be late."

Inoue and the reporter Shiba started to converse with the group. Taiya stared out to see if any incoming Echizen was coming because if he caused them to disqualify, all her hard work and long weeks of enduring the same gender chasing after her would have been wasted.

"Hey!!"

Everyone turned to see a smiling Oishi waving a hand. "I contacted Echizen!" he stopped in front of the latter and the expression he gave off was so serious, everyone fell silent.

"It seems he helped a pregnant woman who was in labour to hospital."

Silence

Everyone was staring disbelievingly at Oishi, eyesbrows raised and a dumbfounded look on their faces. Taiya fell onto the ground anime style, her leg twitching in the air. The silence was broken by Momoshiro.

"That's a lie, right?"

"Yeah."

"100 percent lie," Kaidoh said gruffly.

"If we wait for him, we won't meet the deadline," Ryuzaki-sensei said exasperately. She started walking away somewhere, having all eyes follow her. "He'll get his scolding later." She unzipped her bag, pulling from it a white cap, identical to the brand Echizen wore. "Anyway, we have to register somehow...."

She scanned the freshmen, before striding towards Horio. "Kaidoh, lend him your jersey!"

"EH?!"

-

After successfully being registered in, everyone was doing their stretches, stretching the calf muscles, shoulders, forearms, and back, small huffs every now and then escaping their chests and mouths.

"Even though it's the first round, don't underestimate your opponents!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted with authority in her voice.

"Yes!"

"Ah, Echizen!" Oishi suddenly said brightly.

"You're late, what were you doing?" Tezuka commanded.

"Just a little warming up."

Ryuzaki-sensei smiled at how well her two new Regulars were fitting in, both whom were children to 2 international tennis players she knew.

But then Ryuzaki-sensei's face creased into a tight frown when she suddenly remembered the Sanzushi family which she hadn't see for several years. Something rather...wrong.

Suddenly the coach's eyes widened in surprise. She cursed herself for her age impairing her memory.

_'Sanzushi Ryu's son....Sanzushi Taichi. He should be in college by now. Then...' _The Seigaku coach turned and stared at the so-called Taichi conversing animately with the acrobat and close-eyed genius. _'Then who's that in our team...?'_

-

"Game and match, Seigaku's Echizen!"

"Yay! Amazing, Echizen-kun!"

Everyone already won their matches 6 games to 0. The last one was what made Taiya excited; Tezuka Kunimitsu's match.

When Tezuka approached the tennis courts, murmurs, chats and mutters rang throughout the surrounding, buzzing like bee's around a hive. Taiya felt her eyes widen at the no-touch ace Tezuka made. Actually, nearly all his serves were aces.

"There are very few opponents that'll make Tezuka go all out," Fuji commented, with his hand resting on his chin as he observed the scene before him.

"Whoa, _buchou _is...awesome," said Taiya in utter amazement.

Fuji smiled as he pointed to himself. "Aren't I awesome as well?" he said innocently with a bright smile. Taiya lightly pushed his shoulder as she grinned.

"Whatever."

_'He's almost...flawless. Absolutely, positively flawless....'_

_-_

Taiya watched the match between the Golden Pair and some other team from Akiyama Jr High. She was puzzled; some defences were broken down, earning a few weird glances from onlookers surrounding the court. Not only that, Taiya picked up that Akiyama is aiming for the weakest spots of the pair, or at least what she knew of Eiji's weak spots. Just like they did in her game, they gave her a hard time, despite her still winning 6-0.

But it was difficult to climb there. Her weak spots aren't usually known to foreigners such as them. Fuji and Taka-san, who were in doubles, were taking their break after their match.

"Fuji, Kawamura, Sanzushi."

The three turned to look at Inui. "Even though the match ended 6-0, the match lasted quite long didn't it?" he said, not really asking a question, but stating a fact. The three tensed slightly, a frown creased on their expressions.

"Yeah, it was pretty difficult to win," said Fuji, unsmiling.

"They hit at rather hard places to return," Taka-san pointed out.

"Not only that, but it seemed like they had some info on us too, right?" said Taiya softly.

"Game and match. Seigaku, 6-1."

"We won, we won!" Oishi said with a optimistic smile on his face, while Eiji smiled brightly from beside his partner.

"It's hot! Drinks, drinks!"

"Yes! Now it's 3-0. As expected from the Golden pair!" Momoshiro shouted in triumph, glee clearly visible on his tanned face.

"Both of you were careless," Tezuka said stoutly, arms crossed. "Mistakes were clearly noticable."

"They played the kind of tennis I don't handle well," said Eiji, a hint of a frown on his face.

"Same here."

"Again, huh?" Inui said. "They were aiming at spots you weren't good at, eh..."

"The opponents are winners of the District Tournament too. They must have done some research on us," Oishi pointed out fairly.

Inui was silent, but he was caught walking away sielntly around the fencing of the tennis courts. "Hmm, but it sure is hot today...." he stated, disappearing from view. Tezuka and Ryoma both stared from the corner of their eyes at where their manager went. Taiya only took off her jersey and nodded grimly.

"He's right- it _is _darn hot!" she exclaimed, fanning herself off. Fuji smiled, handing her the bottle marked with her registered school name on it.

"Now, next up is our _O'chibi_!" Eiji called out, while Ryoma looked away.

"...Yes...."

-

Ryoma had won easily, and all the Seigaku Regulars were given a warning to watch out for St. Rudolph.

_"They will do anything to win."_

During this time, Taiya had bumped into Karushi Sen from Fudomine, the same player that she had went up against only a few weeks earlier

"Sanzushi-san."

"Tai is just fine. No need for formalities please, _Karushi-san._"

A-_aa_. Okay. I just wanted to know if your wrist is any better...." Taiya blinked before she smiled, pulling down her wrist-band with her left hand to reveal a perfectly normal wrist.

"It's fine. Don't worry about me; thank you though." _'Nothing to worry about, Karushi-san'_. Taiya thought silently as she pulled her sleeve back down over her forearm and replacing her wristband over her invisible injury.

-

"Seigaku Regulars gather 'round!" Ryuzaki-sensei commanded. Taiya followed the rest of the group as they grouped together in front of their coach.

Ryuzaki-sensei smiled. "Okay, we're playing St. Rudolph in the quarterfinals. This is the line up. If we win this, we get ourselves a ticket to the Kantou tournament," Ryuzaki-sensei explained. Fuji saw _Taichi _smile in a funny way but dismissed it.

"Singles 1 - Tezuka."

"Singles 2 - Fuji."

"Singles 3 - Echizen"

"Singles 4 - Taichi." (Taiya: "Don't call me by my full name!!")

"Doubles 1 - Kikumaru and Oishi."

"Doubles 2 - ....Momoshiro and Kaidoh."

Taiya froze. _'...What?'_

A tense pause followed this as the two mentioned rivals glared at each other in disgust and disbelief. _'With him?!'_

_-_

"St. Rudolph Gakuen is gathering all of the famous players in the region." Inui read out from his clipboard. "They are a lot better than what they were last year. Captain Akazawa, who plays singles, is still around. He is a strong opponent who beat our Regular _senpai _last year. I'm also worried about Yuuta-kun, Fuji's younger brother."

_'What the...? Fuji had a brother....?!' _Taiya thought, glancing at the everlasting smiling boy from beside her.

"He has been thoroughly trained to attack left handed players." Inui pressed on. "People even started to call him the 'left handed killer'. I heard he's going after his brother."

A tense pause entered the premises. Fuji smiled and lifted his hand up. "But I'm not even left handed," he said, smiling unworriedly. Taiya sweat-dropped at him.

"Yeah, but he could be after Tezuka as well. It looks like their new team manager is controlling them very well."

"Manager?" Eiji repeated.

"Yes, he's a member of the reinforcement group. A pretty tough opponent. The reinforcement group goes to school everyday, but they are so strong that they only go to practice once or twice a week."

Taiya gave a low whistle. "Wow, must be tough."

"Are you being sarcastic again?" Fuji said, amused.

"...What makes you think that?"

This time Fuji sweat-dropped.

-

"Sorry Yuuta, your target escaped." Mizuki told Yuuta, who turned his way in heavy disappointment. "Sorry, it seems they didn't want a heavy head-to-head confrontation with brothers."

"But please beat Echizen Ryoma who is in the singles 3 slot." Mizuki readout. When silence greeted him, Mizuki smiled. "Are you listening to me, Yuuta-kun?"

"It's fine, I'll play in the Singles 3 slot," Yuuta agreed rather reluctantly, his face clearly showing he was unpleased. "But if that freshman isn't as good as Fuji Syusuke, I'll be pissed," he commented aggressively. Akazawa walked up.

"But Mizuki, you knew all along didn't you, Seigaku's order?" Mizuki smirked in response. "Geez, you're one fearful guy. But why did you put Yuuta up against that freshman?"

"I investigated his playing experience throughout the district tournament, and it seems he has never played a left handed player before."

"So you're gonna put him up against the left-handed Yuuta, eh? The 'left-handed killer' Yuuta. So does that mean you changed plans on having him face Tezuka?" Akazawa said.

"Exactly. I won't let him play against his brother, Fuji Syusuke. No matter how much he says he wants to. Singles 1 Tezuka is clearly playing his best game. But if he plays against that freshman, we're sure to win." Mizuki assured.

"We'd be at a disadvantage if we have to rely on beating Singles 1 Tezuka. But if we can beat the Golden Pair, Oishi and Kikumaru...we can end this at two doubles matches and 2 singles matches. And for insurance, I placed myself in the singles 2 slot." Mizuki smirked. Akazawa remembered something.

"What about that Sanzushi Taichi?"

"We'll let our power-player Shindou play him. Sanzushi, like Echizen Ryoma-kun, had injured himself in the District tournament. After studying Karushi Sen from Fudomine we can be assured that Sanzushi's injury hasn't fully healed. He is also limited to a few moves which are counterable with a experienced player; the Bounce back serve and the _Kibou Henkan_. They aren't too much to worry about after the training we went though to teach Shindou seal those techniques."

"Sanzushi Taichi won't last in this match," Mizuki chuckled.

----


	11. Shock

**Old Author Note - **You may find the end quite interesting. It doesn't shock me since I wrote it, but whatever.

**New Author Note as of 28th/12/2007: **....Edited today. I want the dragginess out.

---

"The winner will get the ticket to the Kantou Region Tournament," Oishi said. "Let's play with no regrets."

"I never thought I would be playing against the 'all-Japan' Pair," Akazawa remarked.

When both teams went to both sides of their court to watch the match with Doubles 2, Momo and Kaidoh were caught fighting in the middle of the court.

"Were they always like this?" Taiya mumbled to Fuji, who smiled at the sight before him.

Taiya watched Momo's powerful and famed 'Dunk Smash' go into action and she smiled in glee. "Everyone has amazing moves!"

"If you're easily excited at that, wait until the Kantou tournament." Taiya blinked and turned to face him.

"Hah?"

Fuji opened his eyes, a smile playing at his lips. "We're going to win."

----

"Good job, Momoshiro-kun," laughed Taiya loudly. "I can't believe you knocked that guy out with a smash!"

"I didn't mean to- stop laughing, Tai-senpai!"

"Sorry, sorry...." Taiya broke into a series of laughs again. "I'll try to stop."

For Doubles 2 match, Eiji was targeted at the start and didn't have the stamina to hold on. After Eiji's pretend-to-sleep move, everyone was in high hopes again, but once it was Tie-break, Seigaku ended up losing, 6-7. Taiya tossed her classmate and one of her closest friends a drink.

"As unpredictable as ever," she said with a smile, causing Eiji to give a weak grin and a peace sign.

"Nya...."

"Don't beat yourself over it; mistakes are natural to make," Taiya said mainly to herself. _'Although I can't make a mistake...mine would be a bit too big to forgive easily...'_

-

"Tai-kun, Singles 4; your turn." With her eyes closed, Taiya raised a arm and lightly hit Fuji on the head for saying that.

"Tai's my name, and violence is my game."

She got ready and took a slow drink of water. Readying her racquet, she stopped in her tracks when a voice called out to her.

"Taichi."

Taiya wheeled around and was face to face with her tennis coach, Ryuzaki Ryuzaki-sensei. Taiya gave a salute.

"_Hai_!"

Ryuzaki-sensei stared intently at _the boy's _face before giving a sigh, speaking in a low voice, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Taiya waved her hand impatiently in the air. "Of course I am!" Then she paused. "Why do you ask?"

"....I happen to know your father Ryu, Sanzushi Taichi, and I remember he used to have the same problem as you," she said looking stern.

_'Problem...? Getting...tired easily?'_

"...And I'm not sure how he is now, but-"

"You don't have to worry about dad anymore," Taiya spoke stiffly. "He's already passed on."

Ryuzaki-sensei's eyes widened and Fuji froze at where he was standing and looked up to see his friend walk pass without a word. Taiya walked onto the green court and revealed a strangely forced excited expression on.

"Who's my opponent?"

Some guy with dark brown hair with a small 'tail' of hair at the back stepped onto the court. He was about a foot taller than her and a lot better built.

"Your opponent is me."

"Name?"

"Shindou Harune," he stated with a bit of confidence in his voice.

"Sanzushi Taichi, nice to meet you. Let's have a good game." She smiled. Shindou returned a small one of his own.

"Yeah." _'We'll definitely have a nice game, right, Mizuki-san?'_

"One set match, St Rudolphs Shindou to serve!"

Shindou served a normal under-arm serve, which frustrated Taiya. "Oi, are you underestimating me?"

"Well, it's hard to when you're so small-"

Suddenly a flash of yellow bounced past him, and a voice called out, "15 love!".

Shindou grimaced as he looked up and saw his opponent, head bowed down and angry steam rising from her body like off hot food. Except this aura was black.

"Small eh...? Comment on that again, and I won't let you go easy like I usually do," Taiya stated to him with a small, devious smile.

"I'm fine with that. Ready?"

"Of course."

-

"I don't get it..."

"Tai's moves....."

"Are being predicted," Fuji finished as the red-head nodded furiously. "This looks tough for Tai. That Shindou seems to have a lot of information on him, like everyone else."

"St. Rudolphs Manager sure is accurate in our teams techniques," commented the Seigaku coach as Taiya came stumbling onto the ground, coughing as she did and spluttering for breath.

"Tai, you alright?"

"Y-yeah," she said, almost in a state of mild shock, "Just tired..." _'I've been running for a fair bit; he knows my stamina weakness. How? Most opponents find out within at least half an hour into the game. It's only been about 17 minutes or so...' _She held back a itching couch. _'Oh no, my coughing is coming in again. This always happens when I run too much at once.'_

"**Game, Shindou, 3 games to love (3-0)."**

"My serve now, eh...."

Taiya concentrated as she threw it in the air, waiting for the right moment to smash it down. The ball slowly sank down and she did the quickest serve possible with her thin arms. It flew past Shindou without him noticing. Taiya stifled back a groan as she rotated her wrist. _'Still a little sore.'_

"It's a Service ace!"

"Sanzushi's hanging on, but I think he can tell what's happening," said Oishi. "Even if he gets a point, he seems like he's really straining to earn one. That manager has done a good job in analyzing Sanzushi's movements."

"Hmph, nice speed," Shindou commented.

Taiya smiled. "Thanks."

The scorching sun burnt through the Seigaku shirt Taiya was wearing and heated up her body much too much for comfort. Perspiration dripped off her face and her wrist throbbed even worst than before.

She served again, with Shindou returning it powerfully and they watched as she made a spectacular and fluent dive for it before hitting it back with a hard expression. The rally continued on with neither of them getting a chance to smash.

"Kyaaaa! Sanzushi-senpai is so cool! His movement is so elegant!" cried out Tomoka, a first year girl in Seigaku.

"That's true Sanzushi has a fluent body movement and good footwork which leads to good speed. I think that's used in order to compensate for the lack of stamina he has, like Eiji and his acrobatics," Inui said, jotting down something on his notes. Eiji rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before he grinned.

"Tai and me are two of a kind!"

"Well, at least Taichi's catching up now. Let's just hope he doesn't push himself," Ryuzaki-sensei said in a hollow voice. The other Regulars turned to look at her, as though mentally asking what she meant. Ryuzaki-sensei sighed, resting her head onto her palm.

"Let's just say is Tai overexerts himself, things won't go very smoothly." said Ryuzaki-sensei. The others exchanged glances.

-

Taiya gave a grin as she managed a powerful forehand, winning her a game. _'Okay! Nice and easy wins the race!'_

"**Game, Sanzushi, 3 games to 1**!!!"

Taiya panted heavily before she regained her composture, smiling pleasantly, making Yuuta shiver uncomfortably. _'Looks like _aniki'_s smile....'_

"You have done incredibly well to limit my movements around the court and attacking at my weak points," Taiya stated, pointing her racquet at Shindou. "But despite that....we need this win. And the make it to the Nationals....playing kick-ass tennis."

The Seigaku Regulars and the coach all smiled at her remark. "I wonder where she learnt how to say _kick-ass _in Japanese," smiled Fuji.

Shindou served.

Then Taiya returned the ball with a familiar roll of her racquet. It soared upwards through the air before dropping low near the net.

"There it is! _Kibou Henkan_!"

Sure enough, the ball gripped off the net and fell into the court with small bounces and the crowd was once again silence, excluding the small murmurs running amongst the crowd.

"What was that?"

"Was that a _let_?"

Mizuki placed his hand on his chin, deep in thought. _'Kibou Henkan....? The same move he used against Karushi Sen in the District tournament...? No, wait, it seems he has another move....' _Taiya felt the adrenaline pump through her as she got ready for the next ball.

"15-love! Seigaku, lead!"

Shindou grimaced as he faced his opponent. "Heh, not bad. But not good enough either."

-

Taiya and Shindou ended up rallying for a long period of time, a disadvantage on Taiya's behalf. She kept fumbling with her racquet due to the pain in her wrist, and she was losing her concentration when Shindou kept hitting at her weak spots. She walked back to the baseline, breathing in and out deeply.

_'Crap.'_

Shindou did a fast return after making contact with the tennis ball Taiya shot back. This brough Taiya to the front near the net.

_'Come on, leg muscles! Faster! Faster!' _she urged herself and with a fluent movement upwards with her racquet, she 'elegantly' returned it as she was planning to use Kibou Henkan when he returned it straight. Shindou smirked before jerking forward rather sharply and returning it sharply near her face.

Taiya's eyes widened in shock as she felt the presence of the ball graze past her, cutting through the air swiftly.

"There it is!!"

"Shindou's _Jet Shot_!"

_'How could such a lame English-named move get past me?!'_

"A combination of a forward jump completely with a 127 degree upward volley," Inui said, writing notes, like usual, in his book. The others turned to him.

"Wha?"

"The sudden jump increases the power momentum in the shot, and by aiming it near the opponents face....the opponent can't react quick enough to return it," Inui explained. "But there's more. Because of the added power, unless they were power players like Kawamura or Momoshiro, a small percentage of people can actually return it with perfect control by applying their own power to it. And we all know Tai is a more flexible player, and not one who aims for power."

"Like Inui-senpai said a while ago, Tai-senpai changes his play style to match the opponents. This Shindou is a similar to a power player, so Tai-senpai will be aiming to out-run him and try find a counter. But, unlike Fuji-senpai, he doesn't have any specific counters," Momo commented. Fuji gave one nod.

"With Tai's techniques, it's only a matter of time before experienced tennis players counter it. Tai see's tennis as just tennis; hitting the ball across the court so that the opponent misses.

"15 all!"

_'I can't smack it down well enough. What should I do...'_

----

"N-no way!"

"That guy....sealed Shindou-senpai's move so fast!"

"Fast...? I ended up sacrificing a game for that. Who would of thought the sun would make me lose my stamina that badly that I can't concentrate?!"

"I thought that."

"I heard that, Fuji!"

"**Game, St Rudolphs Shindou, 4-2, Shindou lead**!"

"I can't believe I have to use it AGAIN...." Taiya sighed, before grunting in pain as she held her chest slightly and coughed a few times. Oishi half stood up from the seats.

"Sanzushi, you alright?"

Ryuzaki-sensei motioned to the referee. He nodded once before shouting, "Time out!"

"I'm fine!"

"Taichi, when did you become so stubborn?" said Ryuzaki-sensei exasperately.

"I want to win!"

Her team mates looked at her. She gripped her racquet tightly. "I didn't come here to be a burden." Taiya's expression was serious as she pushed her fringe away from her eyes under the cap. "I'm not going to be satisfied if I lose here- just so you know, I always end up coughing after running a lot. It's normal. It's stupid to stop for something that's not serious."

"Tai-chan's got our support," grinned Eiji, and he and Fuji put a thumbs up sign. Ryuzaki-sensei sighed. Taiya smiled at them, relaxing again. _'Those guys..'_

"Fine. Go; play a good game," said Ryuzaki-sensei with a smile, albeit sounding slightly reluctant. Taiya gave a firm nod with a confident smile before heading back to the courts.

_'One...two....three!'_

Taiya served.

"Weak serve!"

Shindou pulled back his arm to smash it back, but as soon as the ball hit the ground, he saw it suddenly spin faster and bounce right back into the net.

"What?!"

"Ohhhh! What was that?!"

"W-what was that....?" Shindou said in a shaky breath. Fuji smiled.

_'The less advanced version of the zero-shiki drop shot made by Tezuka in the form of a serve. Instead of a light roll towards the net, it bounces backwards. That will give a chance for the opponent to strike back though- you'd have to have Momoshiro's timing to be able to get it, or Eiji's eye sight.'_

"Well I gotta win back my games, don't I?" said Taiya in a loud voice across the court with a playful smirk.

"Whatever- it wouldn't be interesting if you didn't try!" Shindou smirked back.

Taiya narrowed her eyes with a smile of delight.

Fuji's eyes, however, narrowed down in suspicion. _'I understand before but...he didn't run so much lately; why is he still so tired?_

_'It must be the hot weather.'_

"15 love!"

Taiya used her Bounce-back through her whole service play and Shindou had no luck in returning it. Taiya could feel the fatigue seep into her joints, and her breath was faltering as she inhaled air. Fuji noticed, but didn't speak.

Fuji's smile became smaller into a slightly worried frown. _'Hang in there, Tai.'_

"**Game, Sanzushi, 4 games to 3, Shindou lead**!"

Despite having the upper hand, Shindou couldn't help but feel uneasy. But after meeting eyes with Mizuki, he gulped before nodding slowly, remembering their little discussion when they were changing courts.

_**"Attack his right wrist."**_

_'I'll do it...'_

Shindou readied the ball before smirking slightly, tossing it high into the air. He lurched forwards and smashed it into the opposite court, and Taiya managed to return it. Shindou inhaled a deep breath of air before leaning back and hitting an incredible smash near Taiya's feet. Unable to return it, her eyes widened slightly as it hit her wrist. Her racquet clattered to the ground.

Taiya's back slouched as she gingerly held her wrist in pain, one eye closed as she winced. Mizuki gave a knowing smile. _'I knew it....it still hasn't healed yet....'_

Taiya shakily bent down and picked up her racquet tight in her right hand, face contorted in pain as she struggled to hide it. _'Dammit. He knew.'_

"You.....purposely aimed for it....ne?"

Shindou jumped before his racquet made contact with the ball, thus giving it more power. It slammed onto the ground before ricocheting off the ground and back into Taiya's wrist as though attracted to it like metal to magnets. Taiya, this time, did not refrain from letting out an cry of pain, earning wary looks from the supporters of Seigaku.

"What's wrong with Tai-senpai?"

"It can't be....Sanzushi-sama is unwell!"

"Oh no!! Tai-sama!! Good luck!! You have my love and support!!"

_'Gaaaah, please stop saying that!!' _Taiya cried inwardly.

"Game, St Rudolphs Shindou, 5-3, Shindou lead!"

An eruption of cheers and hoots came from St Rudolphs side as they acknowledged their advantage. The Taiya glared slightly, wincing, as she held her right wrist. It was time to change courts. Shindou was conversing with Mizuki, who had a mischievious smile on his face.

"Good job, Shindou-kun. That Sanzushi doesn't have a chance to win with a disablilty like that on his main arm. If we're lucky, maybe they'll withdraw," said Mizuki, chuckling lightly.

"I understand."

"Now go. It doesn't look like Sanzushi plans to take this lying down. Not that he has a choice."

Taiya was moving towards the other court until a hand stopped her. She turned and was face to face with Fuji, who didn't have his usual smile on his face.

"Yo, Fuji, what's up?" she asked curiously. He opened his eyes before lightly grabbing her wrist and she winced in pain, almost letting off her feminine-sounding voice.

"Geeeeeyah- ouch!" Taiya shouted, jerking her hand free. "Geez, don't pull so hard."

"Tai." Fuji stared seriously at her now-swollen wrist. "You said.....it was fine.....-"

"It is fine; this is nothing compared to Kawamura-san's injury," she assured, trying to pick her racquet up again, but to no avail. She sighed, scratching the back of her head with her left hand.

"**Jesus, this is going to be a bitch**," she muttered in Chinese rather spitefully. Fuji stood in the background not understanding a single word she said.

"Taichi, I will pull you out from the game if it gets too serious," said Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Everyone forgot, didn't they?" She slowly pulled her racquet to her left hand.

"Now, come to think of it....." Momoshiro started.

"Tai-chan is a _nitouryuu _player like _O'chibi_, nya," Eiji commented blankly. They stared at each other for a while, before triumphant grins stretched across the two's faces. Shindou's eyes enhanced before he turned to look at his manager for support on what to do. Mizuki looked equally as shocked, if not, maybe even more so.

"It can't be....he didn't play with his other hand during the District....!" Mizuki said to himself, dumbstruck. Taiya gave a cheeky grin.

"I'm naturally right-handed, but yeah, I'm ambidextrous, so I can use my left hand pretty well too," she explained a matter-of-factly. She bounced the ball a few times before catching it, and turning to face Shindou with a smirk, ball clasped in her hand near her face.

"Bounce-back time."

----

"Game set and match, Seigaku's Sanzushi, 7-5!!"

"Yes!"

"Another game has been won!"

"SE-I-GAKU!! SE-I-GAKU!"

Everyone cheered furiously at the new victory Seishun Gakuen received; it was an intense battle. Taiya didn't hesitate to repeat her Bounce-back serve each service play, and return Shindou's shots back flawlessly. The hardest part was sealing his Jet Shot, but by doing the offense, she made a good defence at it too.

However....

"Tai....."

Taiya's arms were slumped down as it held her racquet, and perspiration dripped down her face. She was at her limit. No, pass her limit already. All that stamina training......only held the game for half an hour more. The lactic acid ran through her leg and arm muscles, sagging their movement down, and she panted heavily, her fringe falling in front of her eyes. She was too lazy to brush it out, letting the single hairs tickle her forehead.

Taiya's mind was preoccupied with crowded thoughts. She felt disgusted at the state she was in now; it was pitiful.

_'.....China.....in China....I never played matches this long or agressive before....I used to end the game in less than 30 minutes back then...way less.....this is the vast difference between....Seishun and Sheng Xin (Sacred Heart).....'_

Taiya slumped onto the bench and asked, "Fuji....when did you have a little brother?" during Ryoma's match.

Fuji, still staring ahead, calmly replied, "Since the day he was born."

"Don't be smart, you," Taiya pretended to scold, taking a long drought form her water bottle. "You never told me about him." Taiya could suppress that accusation in her voice, her shoulders slumping down as they sagged from the overexertion.

"_Saa_, you never asked," Fuji started, "And plus, it's not that important."

"Tch, you being you as always," muttered the girl. "He's a skilled tennis player," Taiya said before walking away for a while. Fuji's eyes lingered on her for a while before returning to watch his junior and his little brothers match.

Taiya bought 3 cans of Ponta from the machine before sitting on the bench a little further away from the team, coughing slightly, feeling the sticky mucus escape her lungs and into her mouth. She spat on the patch of dirt beside her disgustedly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She stared at Fuji, who in turn was staring at Yuuta and Ryoma's match in mild interest. Taiya was surprised when his eyes opened slightly, staring almost sadly- regretfully- at the ground.

"Fuji....?"

She wanted to go there and comfort him for whatever was bringing him down, but that would be awkward because then she would definitely be known as a girl. She could already see the name.....

HOMO-HOMO ISSUES IN SEIGAKU!

As selfish as it seems, she had pride like any other person, and she couldn't risk it. But she was worried about something.

_'Truth will unravel and hardships shall rise. You do not have a pleasant event coming up, Taiya-chan...'_

_'Yumiko-san....does the truth mean Fuji and Yuuta, and hardships between them which affect me since I'm close to Fuji or.....or is it something else....?'_

"Well, Fuji seems like a caring older brother, slightly evil, yet caring," Taiya concluded happily, sitting up from her seat, Ponta's in hand. Staring at the can in her hand, she smiled.

"**好像大哥****(Like older brother)..."**

-

"Yo."

Fuji turned and saw his violet-eyed class mate striding up with a can of Ponta in her hand, outstretched in his direction.

"Drink up, it's hot out today. Just let yourself be carefree...and don't look like you're thinking too much," she said, playfully punching him weakly before placing the one can of Ponta in her bag and another to drink herself, heaving another tired sigh.

"Thanks, I guess." Fuji stated before opening his can and taking a sip. "Ahh, nice and cold!"

Taiya smiled at the sight of him, looking almost refreshed and genuine, as she sipped onto her own grape-flavoured drink. She liked seeing him this way better than all mask-like, like a clown.

Soon, a while soon, Echizen showed his new technique.

Ryoma won his match after sealing Yuuta's Twist Spin Shot and taking the game mercilessly. This was when Taiya started to cough lightly before they started to get a little more violent. Fuji turned his body a little more to face her/him.

"You okay? Are you sick?" he asked, face creased in a frown. She stopped coughing for a bit before shaking her head, smiling.

"It doesn't matter; at least I'm not sick _during _the game," she assured, thumping her chest lightly with her hand. "I must have overexerted myself just a bit too much."

Even though her chest started to hurt, and not because of the wraps....

----

"....Boy...." Taiya lazily waved the boy over, coughing lightly into her hands. Ryoma turned around at the sound of his _senpai's _voice.

"What is it, Tai-senpai?" _'Senpai looks old and tired like an old man....'_

Taiya tossed him a can of Ponta and closed one eye in a tired but childish wink. "That's for winning. I'll buy ya two cans next time you win, deal?" Ryoma just smirked as he opened the can and took a long drink.

"I'm okay with that." Taiya laughed before turning to one of her closest friends.

"Fuji, it's your game next. That new manager made us go through a lot of Hell, so help us by kicking his rear." FUji smiled.

"Will do..."

Taiya felt cold as he said that. "Eiji...is there something wrong with Fuji?"

Eiji stared before he smiled. "Worried, ne?"

"Sort of...I mean, being around each other a lot, I guess it's a feeling which comes...naturally," said Taiya uncertainly. Eiji nodded. The crowds around all gave 'ooohs' when Mizuki, the manager for St, Rudolphs, seemed to be getting the upper hand. As Taiya watched, Eiji just shook his head.

"Fujiko is just toying with him; start watching near the end of the game, Tai," Eiji advised. "Anyway, I don't know that much about Fuji...only that his brother quit attending Seigaku because of something between them."

"Eh?" Taiya tiredly looked up and Eiji just gave an uncertain smile.

"Something like that. Are you okay though, Tai-chan? Are you still tired from your match?"

"I guess...."

"This hot weather might have affected us all I guess," Ryuzaki-sensei said uneasily. "Just take it easy; you don't have any more games so that we can be grateful for."

It was time for a change in the court. Fuji and Mizuki were walking to the opposite ends of the court, but as they passed each other, they aruptedly stopped when Fuji said something.

"Mizuki. I'm going to ask you this just in case..."

Taiya cursed the distance and the chatter everyone was making; she could barely make out what they were saying. She nudged Eiji.

"Nnya??"

"Eiji, I can't hear, so lip-read for me!"

"Eh?!?!"

"Ah, nevermind. **Goddammit**...." she strained as Fuji continued talking.

".....teach Yuuta the Twist Spin shot even though you knew the damaged I'd do to his shoulder?"

Taiya's eyes widened in realization as her grip on the metal fencing became tighter. No wonder Fuji looked a little angry before. Mizuki swivelled an eye to stare at Fuji.

"Winning's the most important thing," he said, making Taiya glare in hate, her shoulders slightly shaking out of anger. "To me, there are casualties to victory." he smirked.

_**'There are casualties to victory.'**_

_'Casualties...?'_

Taiya stared at her hands. Is that was she was doing herself? Though it wasn't a visible casualty, the friendships she made with everyone, the irreplaceable relationships she made with everyone...

With shadow casting over her eyes under her cap, she gritted her teeth. _'I was an idiot...!' _She wasn't supposed to get close to any of them. But their extended kindness....was the worst bait for her to take.

Taiya lifted her head up and, if possible, saw Fuji's eyes get colder and his face become stonier. Fuji walked over to his bag again silently, his hair shielding his eyes, as he took out a gold coloured racket, replacing his greenish blue one. Taiya could only watch as he walked silently, an air of forboding hanging off him.

_'If I was found out....or if I left without telling....would Fuji be that cold as well?' _Taiya shook her head. _'Can't. No relationship can be that strong in 3 months.'_

Point after point, Fuji kept scoring until he finally won at games 7-5.

"Yay! We won! Aren't you glad, Tai-chan?" cheered Eiji enthusiastically while the girl just smiled; a sign she was pleased, but too tired to show her enthusiasm as opposed to the happy-go-lucky red-head.

"Yeah...."

_'I'm really tired...of all of this.'_

-

"Come on Tai, they're announcing the end of the match now...." he said softly.

The 'boy' ignored him, drawing slow, rattling breaths into 'his' body. It reminded Fuji of the times Eiji was utterly drained of energy.

_'When did I ever have asthma...?' _After gulping for some air, Taiya slowly nodded her head. Under her cap, it was sweaty and sticky, and now more than ever she wanted to cut off all her hair regardless of her feelings and continue the act.

"Yeah....let's go...."

If only she did so earlier...

-

"Seigaku VS. St. Rudolph. Seigaku wins, 5-1."

Everyone bowed to each other. "Thank you very much!"

Everyone had stood around having lunch or resting, conversing with team mates and new found friends. While the other Regulars chatted amongst each other, Taiya clutched onto her chest, trying to breathe freely but failing miserably as pain swept inside her lungs and tightened her throat.

Fuji and Eiji, chatting, walked up to their class mate on the bench only to fall silent as they noticed the _boys _lack of speech and enthusiasm.

"Tai, you need anything?"

Taka-san also came over and sat down next to the girl on the other side of her on the bench. She nodded.

"A comfy bed...and some sleep..." she smiled weakly, breathing heavily as she, herself, grew anxious at her health. She, like Eiji, had always recovered fast and were in near-top-notch condition within 20 minutes or less..

_'But it's been about an hour...' _With her sweat towel hanging over the back of her neck, she lifted her bottle to her mouth for a drink. She was surprised to see her hand trembling slightly.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm just going to sit here for a while longer. Tell me when the end session comes, okay?"

"Okay...if you insist."

"Yeah..."

_'What in the...' _Taiya stared at the ground. _'I must have the flu or something...'_

-

It was near sunset and all the teams lined up together for the end session. Taiya managed to stand as straight as she could and forced a happy smile on, feeling the dizzy spells hit her head like a brick. Of course she ignored it though.

"This completes our first day of competitions. Fudomine, Yamabuki, Ginka and Seigaku will advance as the four best."

_'Hurry up...'_

"These four have been granted participation in the Kantou regional. In one week, we'll play for the winner of the Prefecturals/Provincials, runner-ups and consolation. That's all. Please disperse."

"Thank you very much!"

Taiya seated herself on the bench again, too weary to move much longer. She looked up and saw Fuji 'chatting up' Yuuta, his little cute brother.

"Anyway Yuuta, you're coming home tonight, right?"

"No thanks."

"Mum made your favourite pumpkin curry."

"Eh..."

"Even _nee-san_ was baking rasberry pies for you."

Taiya smiled at the sight before her, reaching her left hand down to her bag to pull it over her shoulders, head home and get a good nights sleep. But before her hand even touched the bag, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her, and she staggered lightly from the sudden reaction her body gave out. An internal, sharp feeling exploded inside of her small form, causing her to double-up in pain......

There was a thud sound.

Everyone turned to catch the sight of Taiya collapsing sideways onto the bench before sliding off the wooden chair to the ground. Oishi was first to react.

"Sanzushi!" His voice had alerted the other Regular members, and they both were just as surprised.

"Tai!"

"Tai-senpai!"

Everyone hurried to catch up to Taiya's slow-breathing form, like a bundle of clothes on the ground, before they stopped dead in their tracks, stunned into silence.

"What......"

"What does this mean.....?"

"What in the......how the....."

A slow but shocked murmer echoed around the ground, as Fuji caught up to them.

"Tai, are you-" he stared with his eyes wide open at the form on the ground, just as shocked as his friends. The infamous cap 'Taichi' always wore was askew on the ground, having been knocked off when 'he' made contact with the ground.

"No wonder 'Tai'-senpai always wore a cap...." Momoshiro breathed.

Fuji, however, remained deathly silent, staring with wide-open eyes at the unconscious body on the pavement as he held his breath back in disbelief.

"T-Taiya-san.....?"

----

**Old A/N - **Hahaha, you know how the ball hit her wrist and it hurt? Usually it wouldn't- but in the _anime, _things are exaggerated (for example, the racquet flying all the way off the court when a ball his the hand), so yeah. Just in case.

**New A/N - **Is it better when it's edited?


	12. Reasoning

Re-cap: Fuji, however, remained deathly silent, staring with wide-open eyes at the unconscious body on the pavement as he held his breath back in disbelief.

"T-Taiya-san.....?"

----

Nobody moved.

It wasn't possible since everyone was preoccupied with their thought-to-be male team-mate who suddenly had a gender swap and was now a girl with shoulder-lengthed hair lying unconscious on the pavement, white hat a few inches from her.

_Unconscious._

OH CRAP!!

"Quickly, everyone!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted, first to break out of the daze. "This person is extremely sick- we need to get _her _to the hospital!!"

"But, sensei, that person is...." Momoshiro started but was cut off by Oishi.

"It doesn't matter now; we can talk about that later. Right now our top priority is the health of others."

"Quickly, somebody call the ambulance."

"Yes, _buchou_!"

----

_Dark._

What the...

Fuji?

Wait- Oishi?

No...._buchou_?!

Dream...huh? Where everyone I tricked will probably one day trick me....maybe they are all girls....?

Pfft...what am I thinking...

A faint beeping sound was off somewhere. I didn't know what it was. It's probably part of this dream that I can't get out of...don't tell me I'm asleep?! Did I fall asleep on the benches...?

I couldn't open my eyes for some reason... they were heavy, and I was tired. It seemed like a hopeless war.

But the beeping was really irritating....

Slowly, my eyes opened…

-

Fuji Syusuke and the rest of the Regulars were seated outside the room where their 'team-mate' laid, supposedly unconscious. Even Tezuka the captain of the team came along with the rest of the group to hear the explanation of 'that girl' which she would, no, SHOULD, tell after these 2-3 months of grouping with the team.

It was a fine Sunday morning- a day after the matches.

Nobody said anything as they waited; they had come at 9am- the time Fuji said _he _usually woke up on Sunday mornings.

Fuji himself was eerily quiet after that event.

Who would have thought a team-mate in your tennis club- the males division at that- was female?

Even though that one friend strangely resembled a girl and was constantly bagged, but yeah, who would've thought?

Fuji's expression was as though he was in a deep state of thinking, although his face was still as calm and passive as usual, although more forced than natural. The prospect of seeing Taiya in place of her 'brother' Tai was all that sustained Fuji's mind over the day.

The very thought of it, for some reason unknown to himself, had seized him up in a rare state of pure astonishment. People actually cross-dressed nowadays...?

Who does it now?!

The shuffling of hasty nurses and doctors were all around, with a single nurse in the ward Taiya was held in. All of the Seigaku team strained their ears to see if there was any movement or sound 'Tai' would make, so that they could immediately get the answer they want to know.

".....Why am I in the hospital instead of at the tennis courts?"

Oishi gave a jolt in his seat, before Eiji jumped up and prepared to rush into the room and question his 'friend' about what had happened the previous day. They trooped into the room (Eiji nearly skidding as he tried to reach his friend) and neared the end bed near the window where they noticed her head rotate around at the sound of their footsteps.

Her half-lidded lazy eyes seemingly widened at the sight of 9, no, only 8 Seigaku Tennis players pushing past the drawing curtains which hung around the hospital bed.

Taiya felt her hope crash down like a waterfall; Fuji wasn't amongst these Regulars.

_'Dammit....and I thought Fuji was different....'_

Oishi was reassuring the nurse in charge of Taiya's bed, and told the smiling lady that it would only be a short visit and they wouldn't be there too long to harass the workers. Tezuka seemed to tower over the smaller-looking Taiya, a shadow casting over her.

_'Buchou....'_

She couldn't shake the feeling that even while he was wearing a light purple shirt, he could still look surprisingly intimidating. As expected of a National-level tennis player.

All of those around her stared at her with questioning eyes, and she felt her head subconsciously sink lower until she stared at her knees, the bed raised up to meet her back like a chair.

"Um..."

"First of all, who are you?" Momoshiro cut in while Kaidoh hit him across the head with a sharp whack.

"Ow!"

"Idiot, you interrupted her telling us the reason."

"You wanna start something, you stupid Viper?!"

"Stop it, you guys." Oishi scolded, heaving a sigh before turning his attention back to the girl in the hospital bed.

"My name is Sanzushi Taiya, a student from China. Gender: girl," she said, and they could here a hint of bitterness in her voice. "What else...would you like me to explain?"

There was a pregnant pause as her question sunk into each of their minds.

"Why....what happened....well...you know..." Oishi trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to react. Though all of them held quite a bit of irritation towards the fact they were deceived, it seems that most of them were much like Oishi- very uncertain of how to deal with the situation. It certainly didn't come in their everyday lives a lot, now did it?

_'Simple question, just hard to answer, eh? Dammit, now that I think about it....my reasoning is quite poor.'_.

Curse her and her stupidity, letting them all know about her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"I....just wanted to try....it's my personal way of proving something."

"...Prove something? In this sort of way?" said Taka-san, mildly surprised.

Taiya sighed. "It's a personal thing. My dad, Sanzushi Ryu, had died 7 years ago. He was a tennis player. My brother left to study in Australia 3 years after that. He too was a tennis player. And..." She paused. "Simply put....it as improving for my pride."

Silence greeted her words, as though asking her to continue.

"The first step was to get in the team. And then it was to head to the Nationals again. The standards of tennis are higher in Japan than in China, of course. And when my brother came back, I don't want him to see me as a failure."

"Wait a minute, Tai- _Taiya_-senpai; you were in the Nationals before?" Momoshiro said disbelievingly, speaking as though to clear something out.

"Yes. It was China's Nationals for Middle schoolers. Instead of staying in China, I headed to my second ethnic background; Japan. I was initially planning to head over to America instead, but due to....certain...language barriers..." She gave a cough. "The reasoning doesn't sound very convincing, but I'm not here to try to convince you or make excuses."

Silence greeted this.

"But that doesn't fully cover the reason why you came to Seishun Gakuen."

Collecting her voice again, she said, "I only heard that Seishun Gakuen was a great school with a great tennis team that promotes team-work as well as honing the individual skills of a player," explained Taiya in a much stronger voice. "Also, it was a more negotiable school for my mum since she had also studied here, as well as my dad a long time ago. It was only natural."

"What about the girl's team? We're not sure if we can allow you to still be in the team anymore..."

"And it's nearly the next tournament...."

"What will happen with the school...?"

Taiya's throat constricted at those words; she may have cost the team something big. And indeed with the tournaments so close up, she also had caused a major distraction for them.

"I'm sorry..."

The Regulars all looked at her. "Huh?"

"I'm so sorry for lying to you guys." Her voice was almost inaudible due to her mumbling. "I actually debated whether I should have continued doing this or not, but...." Taiya suddenly stared at Eiji, enormous guilt welling up in her when she saw his expression. "I'm sorry, Eiji. I know it must have been a shock to know your classmate wasn't a guy." _'I really liked this guy...I'm a bad person, ne, dad?'_

Eiji blinked. Taiya was silent. But then she saw a small grin seep onto his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"...?

"You weren't just a classmate! You were my friend! Me and Fuji's classmate and friend!" he exclaimed, while Taiya inwardly sweat dropped.

_'He's fast forgiving....'_

"Hey, speaking of which, where is Fujiko-chan?" Eiji said, peering around the small ward. Taiya lowered he face once for the umpteenth time, still with an uneasy smile flickering on and off on her face.

"Don't worry, he probably doesn't really wanna talk to me now, ya know? No _tensai _would like to be deceived," she made a sad attempt at a joke as she let out a sigh. _'Now it's all up to _buchou _to decide my fate. I wasn't careful enough.'_

Oishi placed a hand on his chin, already in a deep state of thinking. "How did you even make it into the school? You would have had to include your reports from your previous school to see your record, and you can't change the names-"

"I did."

They all looked at her and she gave a very meek smile. "Well, technically my friend did, not me. He changed names, records, and we replaced text on the copies. The picture on the other hand, was a picture of me...in my freshman year." Taiya flushed.

"It could actually pass as a boy's picture..."

"As expected of Taiya-senpai....na...?"

"That must have taken a long time, neh, Tai-chan?" Eiji gave a kind smile, resting his head into his arms. Taiya felt strange hot around the collar and shifted slightly. Despite feeling slightly warm, she felt relieved with Eiji's presence so nearby. She dipped her head, averting Eiji's gaze. _'What's up with Eiji? He's acting a little weird.'_

"N-not really...well...erm..." Taiya looked away uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, but there are too many visitors here at a time."

An elderly nurse said, bustling in with a small clipboard containing several sheets of paper. She flipped a sheet to examine the paper underneath, reading through her horned-rimmed glasses before she looked up, still holding the piece of paper. She smiled gently and kindly added, "But you can visit her again some other time maybe in smaller groups if you wish."

"No, it's fine. We shall leave now; we are sorry for disturbing you," Tezuka said to the nurse in his deep voice. He turned to face the girl. "We'll continue this discussion later. Your consequences will be considered until you come back to school. Until then, rest easy. Even though we're not sure if you're in the team, it's best to still stay healthy; you were part of Seishun Gakuen's Tennis team, after all."

_'What does he mean "we're not sure if you're in the team"....isn't it __**his**__ decision if I have to be dropped out and humiliated?!'_

The old nurse continued smiling gently, letting the slip of paper drop back down neatly in it's clamped stack on the clipboard. "We'll, Sanzushi-san, I shall ready your medication in 15 minutes, so please prepare yourself," she said, disappearing from view. Taiya was sitting up in her seat, gulping with a horror-stricken face.

"What...? Prepare myself....?" she whispered in horror.

"It seems you have to face punishment here as well," Oishi smiled, sighing as though he had removed a heavy burden from his shoulders. Taiya ignored the fact her team-mates found out about her 'true identity' and instead pondered about her fate. "Not needles....."

"Ahem, well, thank you for your reasoning, Taiya-san, or shall I say 'Tai'," Oishi said with a kind smile, making the mentioned person blink. "We'll go inform Ryuzaki-sensei about it and try help figure this out- it's quite a mess you have gotten yourself into," he chuckled.

Taiya felt guilt wash over her heart. She lied to them without even a good excuse, and they were still helping her try sort things out.

"But, Oishi- I mean, Oishi-san," she started rather awkwardly, not used to adding the honourific at the end of the name. "I have already caused enough trouble for everyone- I can handle this school business myself. I thank you for your generosity and kindness you have given me all this time." She sat up more upright before dipping her head in a polite bow. "I know you all must feel slighted....nobody likes to be lied to...."

Oishi blinked before he gave a soft laugh. "Well, here's something that might make you rest assured; I'm sure it's something we might think about for a while and have difficulty digesting, but we'll eventually get over it. We're not unreasonable people, after all. I hope you get better soon; you're still a team-mate despite the, uh, sudden event." He gave a parting wave before exiting the door.

"What the?"

As everyone had already left the room, Eiji suddenly walked back to her. Then she felt herself getting embraced in a big and surprisingly strong hug. He was so close that she could smell the familiar tingling deodorant he commonly wore, and felt, despite the embarrassment, rather shocked.

"E-eh, Eiji, what are you....?"

"Tai-chan," he said, letting go of her and staring into her eyes with his arms resting on her shoulders. "It's all going to be okay. Even if you weren't really a handsome boy (Taiya twitched), you still are basically the same person, nya?"

Taiya, unsure about how to respond, kept silent. Eiji gave a bright smile. "Anyway, Tai-chan like this is much cuter!"

.......

_'I think that's about the first time I've been called cute....as a _girl_ that is. Maybe Eiji just accepts anyone....' _Taiya mused in her head.

"We like 'Tai' not because _he _was a _boy_," Eiji emphasized the two words, letting a small smirk cross his face. "But because you are you. So don't worry- everything is going to be alright! I'll try make sure you stay in the team- I don't want you to go!!" he pretended whine childishly while Taiya laughed for the first time that day. He gave one last clap to her shoulder before giving a quick wink, walking away.

Eiji stopped at the doorway, resting his hand on the door frame and he turned around to bid a last farewell. "See you at school, Tai-chan!" She gave a small wave with an unsure smile, before letting her arm drop to her side.

"What have I done....?"

----

"Fujiko!!" came a disapproving voice.

Fuji lifted his head from his hands, wearing a confused expression.

"Eiji?"

"Fujiko!!" Eiji repeated his name again, now landing right in front of the seat Fuji sat in, hands on hips. "_Mou_, why didn't you go inside to see Tai-chan? If you had heard her reasoning, you would-"

"I heard," Fuji said, lowering his head once again to his hands. "Yeah.....I heard," he continued in his soft voice, nodding slightly, as though reassuring himself.

"Then why?" Eiji exclaimed dramatically. For a split second, Fuji was unsure of how to respond, and instead he placed his mask like face on again with a small smile.

"I'm just thinking, Eiji. Don't worry about it. I'll go in to see her now. I'll see you guys Monday, okay?" Eiji's frown was quickly replaced by a large smile as he bounced over to his best friends and hugged him happily.

"Yay! There's the kind and caring Fuji I know!!" Eiji let go of the honey-brown coloured hair boy before striding off with the rest of the Regulars in his light red shirt. He turned and gave a wave. "_Ja ne_, Fuji!"

Fuji lifted his hand to wave. "Yeah..._ja ne_, Eiji."

----

Taiya stared off at the wall in front of her, as though a T.V. had just magically been molded into there. But when hearing the sound of foot steps enter the room, she could only freeze in fear. It was either Fuji, or the nurse; both were bad choices. Not knowing why her body won't react, she felt herself dread the figure approaching through the empty ward she stayed in; the _tensai_ himself had come.

She stared at his face, confused as to why there was a normal smile worn there. Then, remembering he was a master of hiding his true emotions and thoughts, she immediately tensed up.

"So...how are you doing, _Taiya_-san?" Fuji said slowly. Taiya, even though she knew she didn't have the right to, felt herself grow annoyed. His deliberate idle talking- _'It pisses me off!!' _

"I'm well....Fuji-_san_," she replied rather coolly. Two could play this game.

It was now Fuji's turn to be slightly off phase, but his face didn't betray him in any way- he _was _the master of keeping his emotions under control.

Although the situation now it was kind of pushing it.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and the surroundings were brooding with a heavy atmosphere. Staring at Fuji until he wished to speak again- probably to poke fun at her whole conscience and pride- Taiya finally saw the _tensai _stop with his back facing away from her.

"When did you plan to tell us?"

His question didn't surprise her. He _was _Fuji afterall- a young man that can let his facial expression remain the exact same for days on end. "When the time was right, I would have eventually-"

"Eventually?" Fuji gave a small chuckle. "When was the 'eventually' going to come; we're already onto playing our third or so tournament, and only by chance we knew of....your secret?" Fuji turned around. Taiya was confused; she expected Fuji to be more...acceptable, understanding and...not so innocently harsh? What drove him to say things like that....? It wasn't like him.

Did she do something to him in the past to make him own an attitude reserved for herself?

Did she...hurt him?

_'Heck no, not possible.'_

"Taiya-san...of all people, I never would have thought you were actually a student at Seigaku, in the very tennis team I am in," Fuji gave her a smile, in which she returned half-assedly. "Did you think of Eiji? How it would have affected him?"

Now Taiya was confused; why is he talking about Eiji?

"Eiji is generally a nice person. But even he has his limits," Fuji said. His voice was carefully tinted with a hint of coldness. "Even though he has let this _slide _past....it would be a good experience for you to know what he really felt inside, right?"

Taiya frowned, not knowing what he was getting at. Although he was- she felt- _sliding _off the topic which laid between him and her personally. _Why is he avoiding it? _Taiya thought, agitated.

"This wouldn't have been much of an issue if you had told us maybe a little earlier."

Taiya trembled underneath the sheets with slight irritation.

"I really don't know whether you were toying with Eiji and the rest, with their emotions-"

That's it.

A sharp slam sound was heard.

Startled and wide-eyed, Fuji turned and saw Taiya staring at him with hard eyes, her hand slapped against the hard surface of the bedside table.

Through gritted teeth, she said, "Stop avoiding the real topic and dragging Eiji into the picture. I will talk to him personally, as he would to me, instead of having you talk for him. That goes for all of the others too."

When Fuji remained silent, she continued, trying to calm herself down; her short-temper has always been a problem for her in school and home.

"I understand what I have done, maybe more so than even you, _tensai _Fuji-san," she started slowly, voice trembling. "I already _understand _the consequences! I _understand _the fact that all the actions I have done these past 2 or so months might have affected people around me! Do you think I really am that dense to not know all this? To not come prepared?!" Even though Taiya knew she was on the wrong, she can't stand letting people having a go at her; zero tolerance.

Fuji's eyes flickered in surprise. That was something he wasn't expecting. But then again, he wasn't expecting Taiya to suddenly bawl on her hands and knees for forgiveness; he knew the tom-boyish Taiya didn't _swing that way. _

"I'm glad to know that then, Taiya-san."

Taiya stared right into his eerie blue eyes, which were usually always so warm and friendly when she hung around him and Eiji. "It's very nice to know that someone who made it into Seishun wasn't a fool. Coming prepared is important, yes?"

Knowing that he wasn't finished, she held her tongue. Fuji started pacing the room again, this time letting his hand slide along the smooth, metal surface of the bed post. "I have actually, even though I didn't show it, been suspecting something was a little, let's say, _awkward _whenever it came to the topic of the two Sanzushi siblings." This time Fuji let a small smile creep onto his face, once again igniting Taiya's fear of clowns.

"What do you mean? Enlighten me with your observations," Taiya asked pleasantly, a smirk tugging at her lips. The atmosphere felt like it had loosened up slightly, and Taiya didn't feel like she was going to be attacked from all sides now, although it seemed as though things weren't going to end smoothly for a while. Fuji once again closed his eyes, giving him the image of a very friendly passerby.

"First we can take consideration of your appearance."

Taiya listened intently, trying to spot out her mistakes taken in by the 2nd best tennis player in Seigaku. "Too dainty for a male, obviously, but there are possibilities of being born premature. You were very fragile looking, yet at the same time surprisingly strong when playing tennis- your expertise sport," Fuji remarked. "You are roughly 8cm taller than Echizen-kun, which is strange for someone of your age, considering you were a _boy,_ and your endurance is very good for a female, but not very impressive for males."

Taiya scoffed. "I guess it's that much of a difference then." _'Shoot, why do I talk so sarcastically when with Fuji?! I'm not all nice and polite like before for some odd reason! Damn you, Fuji!' _"Please continue."

Fuji dipped his head in a mock bow. "As you wish. Well, as we all should know, a female body has less muscle development compared to males, yes? Your physical fitness development was slower than a guy's average, and each time, I saw that the training was becoming increasingly harder for you to maintain."

Taiya mentally cursed. _'He got that right.'_

"And also, those coincidental events where you would disappear and Sanzushi Taichi would suddenly appear, only to have his sister up in her room studying? Although you gave very plausible excuses, it becomes a tad obvious after a while, don't you reckon?" Fuji inquired, a glint of mischief in his eyes. Taiya ignored his sarcastic remark. "And then...the weights. Why would Tai's _sister _be wearing _his _weights for training? Then suddenly burst into the house and come back out with nothing at all. It wasn't a noticeable feature, but I am an observant person, Taiya-san. Your actions were suspicious, and that is what caught my attention."

"And as a side note, I realised that you like taking your time to pack your things and all even if it was late, before going to the change rooms. Was it just me, or did Taichi always come in when everybody else had left?, I thought to myself. Unless you were hiding something."

"And until yesterday, you finally confirmed your suspicions," Taiya finished for him wearily, slumping back onto the pillows. "That _was _mighty observant of you, Fuji Syusuke."

Fuji gave another pleasant smile. "Oh no, I think many people would have realised this, seeing how poorly you rendered yourself into the plan. But nice going, lasting 3 months."

Another baited silence followed after Fuji's long explanation of how Taiya had screwed herself over.

"Well, it might seem worthless now, but.....I'm sorry, Fuji-san." Taiya bit her lip slightly as she stared down at the white sheets. "I had come, prepared to have very loose-end ties with people around me. I didn't want to befriend anyone so much that it became such a trouble. But now that I have....I don't want to lose the bonds I've made with everyone, regardless of the short amount of time spent. I really want things to go back the way they are."

So soap-opera like. Why, oh why, was it like a soap opera?

A badly written one?

But instead of hearing another sarcastic or crude statement shot against her, she instead heard a slight chuckle. Looking up, she saw Fuji politely chuckling into his hand.

"You really are interesting, if I may say so, Taiya."

_'Great, he dropped the -san.'_

Fuji turned to leave. "I can dwell upon those seemingly feminine words of yours which I wouldn't have thought I'd hear with such sincerity- 'I'm sorry'," he imitated, giggling again before Taiya realised he had dropped his air of the 'cold prince'. "We'll see how time can heal this over. I can't necessarily say my entire trust is exactly back 100 percent, seeing as you had to take after your foolish actions, but....I can let this _slide _for now. I'm a nice person, after all."

_'That was a joke, right?'_ "You've been using the word _slide _a lot, Fuji," Taiya have a half-smirk. Fuji himself gave one of his own before heading out the door.

"Ah, I'm going to get a drink; I'll come back later. Until then, have fun with the nurses."

His sing-song voice sent chills down her spine.

She almost sagged down and suffocated herself in the hospital blankets.

_'Nurses....._

_....and friends. How __麻烦__(troublesome).'_

-----

**A/N - **Wow, the internet wouldn't let me post up chapters. Meh.

I know, this whole ordeal and how it was dealt with was pure crap, but I'm not too bright at thinking, nor do I have many good ideas. But....there it is. Hmmms, Fuji and Taiya's

Corrected and looked through briefly on May 2009.


	13. New Start

Legend: "Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_'Inner self which randomly comes up'_

**'Chinese language' (and occasionally to signify someone is shouting extremely loudly)**

----

Taiya closed her eyes as she tried to get some rest like Fuji told her to. She felt sick; like she had been spinning on a swivel chair for several minutes straight. Fun, but it came with queer consequences (yeah, she wanted to hurl).

But she was glad.

Glad that these group of people from Seishun, from Japan, had it in their hearts to forgive her even if she wasn't expecting it. Though personally, she thought it was the best that Eiji and Fuji forgave her (well, Fuji is halfway), being the closest of the lot to her. Actually, she was overwhelmed that they didn't regard her as some sort of fiend or give her the cold shoulder. Eiji was definitely not one who was like that.

"**But I can't erase that guilty feeling inside of me**," Taiya said to herself, feeling obnoxiously ashamed at herself. "**But first....**"

The black-haired girl eyed the large book which read 数学 at the front with distaste.

"**How am I going to finish the maths work mum left me**?!"

----

The teacher of class 3-6 peered up in surprise. "Hmm? Sanzushi-kun isn't here today?" he asked, a mild hint of surprise in his voice. Fuji and Eiji glanced at each other. It was Monday morning and Taiya was still resting at the hospital.

Eiji marked on a piece of paper the very first day Taiya had ever been absent from school- a nice and beautiful Monday.

Fuji stood up from his seat to address himself. "Tai-kun (took Taiya's absence as an advantage to add -_kun_ there) is on sick-leave today," Fuji explained, a small smile on his lips. One girl- a big fan of 'Taichi'- gasped.

"Oh no! Taichi-kun is unwell!" she whispered fearfully among her friends.

"Let's try to find his address- maybe we could give him a surprise visit!"

Fuji chuckled to himself as he was once again seated at his desk.

_'I _could _give them her address as a little pay-back...but then they might find out about me, plus she won't be home until later.'_

Eiji shot a sour glance at Fuji. _'He's planning something evil again nya.'_

Fuji sat in the class with his usual serene smile worn on his face. He was a fine epitome of a young clown as Taiya would call it. Eiji shot a worried glance at his best friend.

_'Nyaaaa, I know something happened between Fujiko and Tai-chan, I can feel it~! Did Fuji do something rash, or was it the other way around....?' _Eiji contemplated to himself whether he should risk his life and ask the _tensai_, or just mull things over by himself. _'I know Fuji misses Tai-chan! I mean, look at him!'_

Fuji was half-heartedly reading the dictionary.

_'Scary...' _Eiji mused, ridding his thoughts of the cursed book before collecting his thoughts again. _'I hate it when things are so uneasy between all of us....!'_

At practice, the Regulars were told to have practice matches against whom they desire- just for variety. Fuji effortlessly won his matches, straining his opponents until they were sorely out of breath and dragged down by exhaustion. Some even had the nerve to call him a demon.

Fuji had only smiled as though it was his job.

Eiji watched from afar as his friend left for the taps. _'Tai-chan! Help me! T-T...Fuji is being scary.'_

As Fuji splashed his face with the cold and refreshing water, a small frown appeared on his lips. He was confused. Confused as to why he was so disturbed by the fact Taiya hid her gender from them. From him. It wasn't as though it was anything _that _important. No, it was something you could get over quite soon, even _if _it was somewhat disturbing....since your so-called 'same-sexed' friend suddenly emerges....with a chest and hips.

Actually, why didn't he notice that Taiya had no 'Adam's Apple'?

Some genius he was -.-".

He returned to the courts with his face plastered with his usual clown-like smile.

"Fuji!" Oishi waved as he ran over. "You got a match up against Inui. He wants to observe all of us in play again in preparation for the next tournament." Fuji continued smiling and nodded.

"_Aa_"

----

I swatted away the irksome flys hovering around my face which I'm sure is sheening with sweat. O'chibi and Momo sure are persistent in doubles! Wait! Maybe I can steal a glance at Fuji. Remember, as secretive as possible.

....

AH HA! Caught ya, Fujiko! Your play style is rustier than normal! Pays to have eyesight as sharp as these, heeheehee! And look at his face! -peers- It's so solemn! No...sober?

Nya!

All I can figure out right now is that Fuji is most probably distracted by Tai-chan- no, I'm positive it's got something to do with hi- her! Phew, nearly thought 'him'. Sure, Tai is actually Taiya instead of Taichi, and Taichi is actually Tai-chan's older brother over in Australia, but it's nothing after a while. She gave us her reasons, that should be good enough -.-". Fujiko, you expect too much.

Nyaaaa, what should I do?!

Momo is a blabber mouth -.- Can't trust him entirely, and even if he _does _keep the secret, he talks too loud. And not only Fuji, but Taiya'll know....and they'll annhilate me. I can imagine it now.....

Ah! My hands are shaking!

I walked over to Fuji, and greeted hello like usual, a little glomping, a little chatting. Heehee, he can't tell that I, Kikumaru-sama, am observing his every facial expression and action?

---

Fuji had to admit himself; the lesson seemed quite lonely. He would usually tease 'Taichi' every practice, or some sort of mocking, and Taiya's reactions to each trick he pulled were immensely amusing. Like the time Fuji got her so agitated that she overarm served the ball towards him, only to have him duck and have the ball strike the second year Arai on the forehead until he went unconscious. How many laps did she have to run after that?

I think it was something like.....30.....times 3.

_'I wonder where she gets that power from, seeing as she's not a power player,' _Fuji mused to himself.

"Eiji."

Eiji stiffened at Fuji's voice and he went as rigid as a board. "Y-yes, Fuji?"

"Let's go pay Tai a visit in the hospital. Since we don't know when he's going to be discharged," Fuji smiled, bouncing a tennis ball on the strings of his racquet. Eiji sighed in relief.

"Yeah, sure, Fujiko!"

"And then we'll have a chat about why you kept staring at me today."

"Ah-!"

-

Fuji and Eiji had gotten a lift from Yumiko down to the hospital when Yumiko was going to work. She told them to pass her message to Taiya since she was too busy to visit. Fuji and Eiji had brought along some sushi, kindly offered by Taka-san, to take to her. They wondered if she lasted long with plain hospital food.

They peered cautiously around the door to the ward which could hold 5 beds in total. All beds were empty except for one in the very corner of the room next to the window. There laid Taiya who was boredly reading a book written purely in Chinese and numbers. But the two characters 数学 were distinguishable at the very front. Fuji chuckled. _'Studying maths even in the hospital.'_

Taiya looked up from her book before greeting them. "Hey Eiji....Fuji..."

_'She talks as though we're gonna attack her,' _Fuji supressed a giggle. Eiji started off the loud conversation.

"Tai-chan! How are you? Well, of course you're not _that _okay if you're in a hospital!!" Eiji jabbered all in one breath before standing back with his hands on his hips. This caused Taiya to emit a soft laugh; it was obvious she was extremely happy to see them. Fuji smiled on the inside.

"Here, Taka-san offered this, since we don't know how long you're going to be staying here," said Fuji, handing over the plastic bag with a obento box in it. Taiya's face gave a sliver of a smile.

"Thanks." _'Is it just me, or it is really tense...?' _"Um, thank you for dropping by!" she said, plastering on a large, grateful smile on her slightly pale face.

"No problem, Tai-chan! So- when are you coming back to team practices?" he asked rather excitedly. Taiya's heart sunk.

"Eh, about that Eiji- has Tezuka-buchou said anything about me around the tennis courts?" asked Taiya, hoping very much that the answer was in her favour.

"No, I don't think so, but he was talking to Ryuzaki-sensei about it...." Eiji informed her while she sighed, letting one hand fan itself across her face.

"天啊 (heavens)," she breathed out, feeling her troubles lighten a considerable amount from amidst her shoulders. "I still have a chance then...."

Eiji and Fuji watched her in silence, taking notice of her behaviour as she murmured to herself about who-knows-what. Finally, they saw Taiya raise her head from her hands and gave a weak smile, out of relief or because she was tired, they were not sure.

"Thanks for letting me know the news. I guess when I get back to school, I'll have to talk with Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka-buchou."

"Of course. We'll back you up," Fuji stated calmly, as though he was talking about how nice the day was. Taiya and Eiji looked at him with an incredulous expression.

"Hah?"

Fuji gave a shrewd smile. "What? Did you think I wasn't going to help Tai-kun out? What kind of friends are you, I just don't believe it...." He sighed disbelievingly. Eiji and Taiya sweat-dropped in the background.

"Ehh, eheheh....come here, Fuji-boy!" And Eiji quickly hugged him tightly, causing Fuji to stagger somewhat, seeing as Eiji was bigger than him even if it was slight. "You forgive me now?!"

Fuji laughed while playfully shoving Eiji off. Eiji beamed. Taiya watched with a 'what the flatoodles' look until Fuji's voice snapped her out of her daze. "So, Taiya; where's my hug?"

Taiya gave him a well-defined glare. "What in the world are you talking about?" she said with a sickly sweet smile, although she knew perfectly well what he meant. Fuji's smile seemed to broaden.

"Well, Eiji gave me a hug. So what are you going to give me in return, Taiya?"

"I'm gonna give you a good smack around the face if you keep playing around like this."

-.-"

_'Fuji seems more normal than yesterday, not that he _is _normal...' _Taiya watched the two Junior High Senior boys in front of her talking animatedly with each other while placing a single rose into a small and narrow vase. _'Well...at least the worst stage is over for the meanwhile...I really don't like Fuji's pissed off side...for some reason..._

Then Taiya's eyes flickered across to Eiji's horror-struck face, his blue eyes staring at Fuji as though he was some sort of sea-beast. Taiya felt her mouth curl up into a nervous smile, a blue shadow forming across her left temple. _'Or maybe because I know it's wise not to have Fuji as my enemy.'_

Suddenly the sound of clicking heels met the threesome's ears and they all turned to see Aiki, Taiya's mother, walking in donned in what appeared to be her last photo-shoot clothes. Taiya lifted her hand in greeting.

"Yo, mum! You _do _care about me!!"

"Oh, Eiji-kun! Fuji-kun! Glad to see you here!" Aiki said joyfully, giving them both a hug, all the while ignoring Taiya ("What about me...?" murmurs Taiya).

Aiki turned to Taiya and gazed down at her with a firm stare. "Taiya....."

Taiya seemed to let off an audible gulp. "Y-yes, mum?"

"....Where's the maths work I gave you to complete?"

"Here! Take it all!"

Fuji and Eiji had their mouths agape in disbelief, a blue and black shadow strewn across their eyes. _'She's in the hospital and she still set her homework....more than that, she's asking for it's submission before the greeting?'_

"Okay! I talked to the nurses in charge here and they told me you can be released on Wednesday. Lucky it wasn't anything serious," Aiki told them, while Taiya beamed.

"Yes, mum," she replied, giving a big grin. "Then I can get back to training on my stamina-!"

"And one more thing; you are banned from tennis until next week."

"**WHAT THE F.....**!!"

"Shhh!"

"Uh, yeah....but- but!"

Taiya tried to argue, but Aiki shook her head disapprovingly. "No, Taiya. **Do you really want me to see you in hospital all the time like your father**?" she asked in Chinese, as though daring Taiya to answer. Taiya was defeated and she let her shoulders slump.

"**No, mum**."

Fuji and Eiji watched in silence (nothing much they could do seeing as mother and daughter starting conversing in Chinese).

"**Well, I'll be back around 4. I have a meeting to attend to; your Uncle is coming down here again very soon**," Aiki said. "**It's so boring at home now that I think I could take this up again. It's only been 2 years since my last**," Aiki chuckled before she gave a curt nod, turning to leave. "Eiji-kun, Fuji-kun; thank you for keeping Taiya company. Drop by our house any time you want to! Taiya's very lonely without her brother nowadays. Bye!"

Taiya shook her head in relief. "Finally she's gone. There's not a moment when she's a normal, caring mother like yours, Fuji."

"That's....quite incredible."

"Anyway, Taiya," Fuji started. "What were you conversing about? Surely you're not keeping more things from us."

Taiya pulled a face as Fuji turned and gave her a very icy stare with an incredibly honest smile. "N-no...nothing of the sort."

"Oh, that's good then."

_'Eiji, help....!' _Taiya cleared her throat. "My mum just said she'll be back at 4. She said my uncle will be down soon."

"Uncle?"

"My mother's brother and also my mother's agent," she explained. "My mum was a model back then but after stopping for 2 years, she's taking it back up again on request from her old agency."

"Ahh, no wonder Tai-chan's mother is so young and pretty!"

"Well she had me when she was 18-"

"Young!"

"Yeah...."

"...But don't you have an older brother? She must have had a child at least at 17 years of age then..." trailed off Fuji. Taiya let out a shout of laughter.

"He's my half brother. _Nii-san _as you would call it here had the same dad as me, but a different mother. That is why my mum and him don't get along extraordinarily well; more like siblings than anything I swear. Well, she is only 11 years older than him or so?"

"...There's a lot about you that we don't know," commented Fuji with a sweat-drop, a small and uncertain smile on his face.

"I don't know much about you guys neither. We just...mixed. We never really talked to each other a lot," admitted Taiya. "I really didn't want to mix...but it just happened...."

There was an awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere hovering above them like Death. Eiji shifted on his seat while Taiya fiddled with the sheets.

"Oh," started Fuji, breaking the tension, "I forgot. I brought...." Fuji fished out something from his denim pockets before holding up a stack of red playing cards. Taiya blinked. He gave a smirk.

"I want to see if you as Taiya are any good. Game?"

"You're on."

-

Fuji and Taiya were highly engrossed in a game called 'Big 2 ' after Eiji had left and, for some reason, Fuji kept winning.

"Aha! Take this! Full house with triple K's!" Taiya threw down a 5-card-combo consisting of a triple and a double. Fuji smiled serenely before placing his last 5 cards down.

"Quad 7; I think that beats your Full House," Fuji said with a wide smile.

"Why?! I just taught you this game and you beat me already!!"

"Ah ha, Taiya- I am always one step ahead of you when it comes to mind games."

Aiki walked in just as Taiya threw the card container at Fuji playfully, but still earned her a scolding from her mother. "Don't let me catch you doing that again," her mother warned. "Or I'll cage you in your room for more than a week."

"Okay, I won't.....let you see," she muttered under her breath as her mother left the room.

"Well, Taiya-san- I mean, Taiya," he corrected. "I'll have to go back now. See you on Wednesday- maybe."

Taiya frowned. The way he talked was as though she was a person he had only met on several occasions, instead of for 2-3 months while seeing each other at least 6 times a week with after-school training. What happened to that personality coincidence? She guessed it would be a while before everything went back to how it used to be.

Taiya fell back on the hospital pillows. "I can't expect too much. This situation itself has already been too kind to me."

The ceiling of the hospital seemed highly hypnotizing. The pure white tiles engrossed her mind into a 'count the tiles on the hospital ceiling' feeling, and she soon found herself falling into a light doze.

-

On a nice Thursday afternoon.....

Taiya's jaw was down to her feet as she stared at her tennis team-mates training once again. Watching everyone return the balls over the net, serving, smash practice, running laps oh-so joyfully...

"I can't believe I miss exercise..." breathed out a girl in the male uniform. This is none other than Sanzushi Taiya.

That was when Ryuzaki-sensei came over to Taiya, sitting down on the bench beside her. Taiya pretended not to notice, but that's what probably gave her away.

"It was a rather interesting turn of events, wasn't it, Taiya?"

Taiya gave a gulp, her heart rate beating at what felt like 200 beats per minute. But Ryuzaki-sensei didn't seem to be able to feel or hear the loud thumping of Taiya's heart; the feeling of it nearly breaking her rib-cage as it continued its rhythmic thumping was highly disturbing.

"I thought it was strange. Ryu's son Taichi should already be in College studying, since he would be....21 now?" Taiya nodded. "And then only on the day of the tournament when," Ryuzaki gave a low chuckle. "Your real gender was revealed that I remembered Ryu had a daughter about 14 or 15 this year...."

The elderly tennis coach's gaze on Taiya made her feel acutely uncomfortable and the only way to react was to stare away.

_'I know this is impolite, but...," _Taiya clenched her eyes. "I'm sorry. Did Tezuka-bu-" Taiya stopped herself in time. "Did Tezuka-_san_ tell explain everything to you already?"

"He did, and I must say, you had us all fooled rather well!"

Her laughter stabbed Taiya in the heart, and a blue shadow formed across her forehead. _'W-what...? Is she mocking me...?'_

"Have you told the school yet?" Taiya asked suddenly, rather pleadingly while silently praying she didn't. _'I can't be.....exposed like....like THAT~!'_

An image of herself dressed in the ridiculous green school uniform skipping around the school grounds with her arms linked with other school girls appeared in her mind.

A horror-struck shadow casted over the top half of her face as the corner of her mouth twitched. _'Never....!'_

"About that, Taiya...."

Taiya gulped.

"....we haven't said anything to anyone yet, seeing as we wanted to get the full picture ourselves first. But..." Taiya waited for it. She was going to say something that decided her fate.

"....Tezuka and I agreed that you could remain on the team."

Taiya nearly died of a heart attack as she shot up out of the seat and yelled incredulously, "You serious?!?!"

Ryuzaki-sensei gave a warm smile. "We asked the other Regulars about it, and they don't seem to have much of a problem." _'And the fact Kikumaru and Fuji kept harping on about it....'_

Confusion and shock was still lingering heavily in Taiya's head.

"B-but! Why?! Why are you accepting it?!" _'Oh my God! Shut up, Taiya! She's giving you a chance, why ask, you freakin' moron?!'_

By this time, Tezuka had walked forward and his frame seemed to tower menacingly above her. "What's this all about?" he commanded in his deep voice. _'And he's 14...?'_

If he's intimidating in a purple shirt, he's even more so in a Regular's jersey with the sun hidden behind his head, glaring down at her along with him.

"I- I w-wanted to...."

"If you forgot, then don't waste time. I expect you to be training for the upcoming tournament by next week; don't let your guard down." And he stalked off without another word. Tezuka was surrounded by a holy light. Like an...an...

_'Angel! So he does have a nice side afterall.'_

-

From a little way away, Fuji heard the cry of exclamation coming from none other than Sanzushi Taiya, the soon-to-be first girl member in the boys Regular team.

"You serious?!?!"

Fuji stifled a giggle, and Eiji cast him a sideways glance.

"What's so funny, Fuji?"

Fuji merely smiled. "Oh, nothing, Eiji. I was just thinking what a interesting last year of Middle school it would be for us this year."

--------------

**Old A/N - **I mean, Holy crap. I finally updated -.- Now, I just need to get my hands on those Prince of Tennis eps fufufufufu.....anyways.....Happy New Year everyone for a few days ago!

I'm officially 14!! Boo-ya!

And thank you for reading. Bye bye.

Thank you for reading the first, rather boring section; Himitsu!

The 'sequel' or continuation is on my account page if you're interested. Even if this story is complete, I hope new readers who enjoyed it (or thoroughly think I need a check up) to comment on their thoughts. But like I said; don't ask me to kill off my OC character -.- Or compensate with a new monitor because you threw up for some reason. All other advice and criticism, please point out; if I have a reason or point of view, I will definitely reply. But I'm sure we can reach a good conclusion without the murder of the OC.

And 再见！


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